View the full PDF (420+ pages)View PDF

Would we expect Joseph Smith to naturally include synonymous parallelisms while dictating the Book of Mormon?

Synonymous parallelisms are formal patterns in which similar meanings are repeated at least two times. One example of an extended synonymous parallelism (more than two lines) is found in Alma 5:18:

having a remembrance of all your guilt,

yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness,

yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?

Another is found in 3 Nephi 8:13:

And the highways were broken up,

and the level roads were spoiled,

and many smooth places became rough.

Wouldn’t we expect Joseph Smith when dictating the Book of Mormon to struggle to find such synonyms? With Joseph’s limited education, how did he manage to dictate such synonymous parallelisms? Would we expect to see over 100 examples of this throughout the Book of Mormon?

See:

Add
Add a Question
Submit
Thank you for your submission