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How could Joseph Smith consistently dictate the Book of Mormon without using any punctuation?

Unlike every book Joseph Smith would have read, the Book of Mormon did not have any punctuation.

John Gee explains the significance of this:

According to John Gilbert, the typesetter, the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon was unpunctuated: “Every Chapter, if I remember correctly, was one solid paragraph, without a punctuation mark, from beginning to end.” This is in keeping with many ancient languages and scripts that work without punctuation marks. Ancient languages tend to do without typographic punctuation; they use words for punctuation instead. This verbal punctuation provides the signposts that control and structure the flow of the narrative.

John Gee – Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon I: (And) Now

Wouldn’t it have been difficult for Joseph to use verbal punctuation while dictating? Why did he not slip up at some point and dictate some punctuation?

See:



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