Chiasmus is a poetic form that is common in ancient hebrew texts. The first article here is a short, relatively nontechnical response to this claim. The discovery of apparent instances of complex chiasmus in the book of mormon. Holland of the quorum of the twelve apostles spoke at a chiasmus jubilee at brigham young university that commemorated 50 years since john w. The discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon is one of the most significant scholarly contributions to understanding and appreciating the nephite record. Chiasmus in the book of mormon lds church is true blog. For example, the book of mormon prophet might have meant tapir and joseph described it as horse. The use of chiasmus is popular in greek, latin and english languages, especially in shakespeares works, the hebrew texts of the bible, analects of confucius and the book of mormon. Style of writing that consists of arranging a series of words or ideas in one order and repeating it in reverse order. The bible, old and new testaments, abound with examples and it is accepted that it is typical of one form of hebraic. Note that a chiasmus includes anadiplosis, but not every anadiplosis reverses itself in the. Some have argued chiasmus is evidence of the texts historical authenticity, suggesting it reflects the semitic background of nephi and other authors of the book of mormon.
Because mormons claim that examples of chiastic writing in the book of mormon help authenticate the book. Chiasmus in the book of mormon philosophies of men. Select one of the links above to view examples of chiasmus in various books of the book of mormon. Since then, two organizations farms and fraa have published extensive literature to show that the book of mormon translated by joseph smith jr. In 1967 chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon, and the findings were published in byu studies. For example, many long and complex chiasmi have been found in shakespeare. Since that time, a steady stream of publications has greatly illuminated this profound and ancient literary feature. Greg welch how chiasmus was discovered in the book of mormon part 1 duration. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany, and since that time, chiasmus has served as a profound witness for the beauty and complexity of the book of mormon. Such simple examples do exist in the book of mormon, examples but they are not the most impressive ones. The idea is that joseph had literary license to kind of wing it as he translated. Plain and precious persuading from a prophet of god by david e. Chiasms appear in greek, latin, english and other languages, but it.
The more lines in a chiasmus, the more likely it is the result of composition and not extemporaneous off the cuff speech or streamofconsciousness writing. In rhetoric, chiasmus is a verbal pattern a type of antithesis in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed. It was alma the younger whose conversion to the lord was so powerful and rich that it affected an entire generation at the time it happened and has since become one of the most inspirational stories recorded in the book of mormon. What is chiasmus and why is it so important in the book of. If chiasmus can be convincingly identified in the book of mormon, it will testify of the book s ancient origin. Several fine examples of chiasmus an abba pattern are also found in the book of mormon. Chiasmus in the book of mormon judaicaworld archives. It is a parallelism in structure rather than rhyme, a parallelism of thought or idea. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. How did biblical and ancient near eastern authors use. Nevertheless, we would expect it to be present in central america if writings of the book of mormon peoples endured and influenced ancient groups of american peoples. The early prophetwriter nephi was one of the most skilled authors at using this literary form, and he employed it in a number of ways.
Chiasmus is a figure of speech in which the order of words in one of two parallel clauses is inverted in the other. Chiasmus in alma 36 handouts for alpine north stake book. In chiasmus, the clauses display inverted parallelism. Both chiasmus and antimetabole can be used to reinforce antithesis. The book of mormon does indeed have authentic semitic constructions in it, but lds need to tread cautiously in establishing them. The most important way nephi used it, however, was to testify of christ. Chapter 15 chiasmus in the book of mormon reachout trust. Much has been said about the use of chiasmus in the book of mormon. Hebraisms that could have been known to joseph smith may still be authentic, and may still enhance our appreciation of the text, but they are. Chiasmus in the book of mormon brigham young university.
Hyperbole vs understatement meaning and examples duration. Sloan, journal of book of mormon studies, volume 6, issue 2, 1997. Some lds writers are trying to establish the historicity of the book of mormon by maintaining that it contains a poetic style, sometimes used in the bible, called chiasmus see. The phenomenon which makes that possible is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. The loose translation theory is the theory that most lds apologists favor to explain why there are problems in the book of mormon text, such as anachronisms, kjv mistakes, etc. Many latterday saints point out that the use of chiasmus in the book of mormon is proof that joseph smith translated a script that was hebrew in origin, since the chiasmus had not yet been discovered when the book of mormon was translated in 1829. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany. Our results do not prove that the book of mormon is a translation of an ancient document, but they do establish that chiastic passages in the book of mormon likely appeared by design, that is, by the. Welch was just a young missionary on germany at the time. A they humble themselves b and become as little children, c and believe that salvation. Book of mormonevidenceshebraismschiasmus fairmormon.
Video on the discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon. For it is expedient that an atonement should be made. Why is the presence of chiasmus in the book of mormon. The main idea is at the turning point where the second half begins. Chiasmus in the book of mormon mormonism, the mormon. Joseph smith had been dead ten full years before john forbess book was published in scotland. The story told in this video, of the 1967 discovery of chiasmus in the book of mormon by missionary john jack welch, is a miraculous evidence of the restoration by itself. For many additional examples of chiasmus from the writings of nephi, see the article, nephis convincing of christ through chiasmus. Perhaps the most interesting of these is his proposal chiasmus in the book of mormon and elsewhere that a very substantial chiasmus has been found in the book of mormon, at alma chapter 36. Chiasmus in the book of mormon 73 name he used for chiasmus in 1854 however john forbesforbes4forbess completed a much more extensive study the symmetrical structures of scripture with the publication of this book it is possible to begin speaking of relatively widespread awareness of chiasmic forms in the bible a wave of other writers fol lowed forbes and in 1860 a section on chiasmus. Our results do not prove that the book of mormon is a translation of an ancient document, but they do establish. Book of mormon 1879 lds versification title page simmons, letter, a 1 2 b 1 2 b 1 2 a 1 2. Mormons commonly cite alma 36 as the supreme example of a long, complex chiasmus in the book of mormon. Some of these examples may seem to be compelling, but when closely examined, they turn out to be little more than wishful thinking.
The presence of chiasmus in mayan texts may only disclose that the rhetorical device can emerge independently in the writings of an isolated ancient culture. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including hebrew, greek, ancient kiche maya, and latin, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. Bishop lowth, whose lectures on hebrew poetry in 1741 first introduced the name parallelism for the hebrew poetic style, pointed out that this structure, based as it is on meaning, survives translation into the prose of any language with. Critics try to pretend that the simple, trivial parallelisms represent all such chiastic samples in the book of mormon. So it is, in my opinion, with the issue of chiasmus in the book of mormon. The second article is a long, technical response with full documentation. Definition and examples of chiasmus figure of speech. No one in america, let alone in western new york, fully understood chiasmus in 1830. But, together with recent stats showing that chiasmus, a literary device used heavily in ancient hebrew writings, was purposefully woven into the book of. Practically since the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who believed in the book asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. Since that time, several other examples of chiasmus have been found in the book of mormon, and both lds and nonlds scholars have come to better understand how chiasmus was used in the bible, the book of mormon. Examples of chiasmus can be found in the book of mormon. Welch, chiasmus in the book of mormon, new era feb 1972, accessed online at.
In the first place, we have demonstrated the extensive existence of chiasmus in the book of mormon beyond any possible doubt. A complex chiasmus consists of several lines that extend the parallelism beyond two pairs of parallel elements. We have no choice but to treat the book of mormon, especially its earliest sections, as chiastic literature that is cognate and congruent in its form with early hebraic poesy. The most famous example of this is chapter 36 of the book of alma. Those who were not so credulous insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text.
It was also seen in sanskrit, mesopotamian, chinese and egyptian texts. Does chiasmus appear in the book of mormon by chance. If joseph smith was writing the book of mormon himself. Book of mormon commentary alma 36 page 1 of 12 chiasmus in alma 36 my son give ear to my words v. They claim that such findings support claims of hebrew origins in the text on the basis that. Chiasmus in the book of mormon book of mormon central. Wednesday was the fiftieth anniversary of welchs discovery. Welch discovered the presence of chiasmus on august 16, 1967 while on his mission in germany, a steady stream of publications since that time has thrown much light on this matter. Chiasmus is a sophisticated literary device that ranges from the most simple, as illustrated above, to complex examples. Book of mormon commentary 2 nephi 20 page 1 of 8 2 nephi 20 chiasmus chiasmus. Another famous author of the book of mormon who creatively employed the principles of chiasmus to great advantage was alma the younger.
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