Synonymous parallelism
A major literary device in Hebrew poetry is parallelism. Often, the parallelism is synonymous parallelism —the same idea is restated in different words, side by side. Antithetical parallelism provides an antithesis, or contrast, side by side. Synthetic parallelism involves the completion or expansion of the idea of the first part of a phrase in the second part of the phrase. An example is found in Psalm 42:1 — “As a doe longs for running streams, so longs my soul for you, O God.” The existence of this Hebrew grammatical phrasing in the Book of Mormon is further evidence that the Book of Mormon is translated ancient scripture, and not the product of a fertile, devious mind in the 1820’s. Examples of synonymous parallelism can be viewed below:
From the Hebrew Bible:
- Genesis 4:23 — “…I have slain a young man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.”
- 1 Samuel 15:22 — “…to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
- Psalm 1:1 — “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
- Psalms 32:11 — “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”
From the Book of Mormon:
- 2 Nephi 6:18 — ” I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood…”
- 2 Nephi 25:2 — “…for their works were works of darkness, and their doings were doings of abomination.”
- 2 Nephi 27:4 — “…ye shall be drunken, but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink…” (beautiful example of parallelism!)
- 2 Nephi 30:11 — “…righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.”
- Alma 5:18 — “… having a remembrance of all your guilt … a remembrance of all your wickedness … a remembrance that you have set at defiance the commandments of God…”
- Alma 30:28 — “… a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be.”
- 3 Nephi 8:13 — “And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough.”
- 3 Nephi 29:5 — “Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord; yea, wo unto him that shall deny the Christ and his works!”
- Mormon 8:24 — “… and in his name could they cause the earth to shake, and by the power of his word did they cause prisons to tumble to the earth…”
All of the above is further evidence that the Book of Mormon is indeed sacred, translated scripture, and not the crafty deceptions of a cunning, sinister young man, as the critics would propose. Joseph Smith would have had no idea of the existence of this Hebrew literary phrasing, and its existence in the Book of Mormon is convincing evidence of the authenticity of this translated book of scripture.
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