Would we expect paired tricola in the Book of Mormon if Joseph Smith wrote it himself?
A tricolon is an ancient poetic device in which three words or phrases are combined to emphasize a point. Tricola are found throughout the Bible but only recently has paired tricola been discovered.
Paired tricola are two tricola which share a common colon. Jeff Lindsay explains:
Paired tricola, at first glance, may look like a bicolon adjacent to a tricolon, but those five lines actually have two interwoven tricola wherein the last colon of the first tricolon is also the first colon of the last tricolon. A paired tricolon often appears with other bicola before or after. The added words in these paired tricola – words which seem out of place if one expects only bicola – often add to the meaning and power of the poetry.
The Book of Mormon appears to contain paired tricola which would be very unexpected if Joseph Smith had dictated it on the fly. Jeff Lindsay highlights 1 Nephi 22:15-17 as a paired tricola:
A1: (15,16) day cometh … wicked ….as stubble, day cometh they must be burned
A2: (16) time cometh – fullness of the wrath of God upon men – not suffer wicked to destroy the righteous
B: (17) He will preserve the righteous – even if fullness of his wrath must come
C1: (17) the righteous be preserved – even unto destruction of enemies by fire
C2: (17) the righteous need not fear – saved, even as by fire
In this instance, the first tricola contains elements of time and coming, and the second tricola contains elements of being preserved. However the common colon contains both.
How would Joseph Smith have been able to compose paired tricola like this while dictating the Book of Mormon?
Show Your Shelf is not in any way sponsored or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For official information from the Church please see churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org
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