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CONTENTS:
Chiasmus (Hebrew Literary writing style)
Complexity
Hebrew/Egyptian roots of names
Olive Trees in vineyards
Parallels between Native American & Christian/LDS beliefs
CHIASMUS:
"In rhetoric, chiasmus, or less commonly chiasm, (Latin term from Greek χίασμα, "crossing", from the Greek χιάζω, chiázō, "to shape like the letter Χ") is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are presented to the reader or hearer, then presented again in reverse order, in order to make a larger point. To diagram a simple chiasmus, the clauses are often labelled in the form A B B A... In chiasmus, the clauses display inverted parallelism. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. As a popular example, many long and complex chiasmi have been found in... the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible." (From the Wikipedia page of "Chiasums")
Some Biblical examples of this literary format can be found in Genesis 7:21–23, Psalm 3:7-8, Psalm 58 etc. Here below is a breakdown of Psalms 3:7-8:
Psalms 3:7-8 Save me, O my God, for thou has smitten all my enemies on the cheek-bone; The teeth of the wicked thou has broken; to Jehovah, the salvation.
a Save me,
b O my God,
c for thou has smitten
d all my enemies
e on the cheekbone;
e The teeth
d of the wicked
c thou hast broken;
b to Jehovah,
a the salvation.
Examples of this same Hebrew literary speech formatting is also found many times in the Book of Mormon, including Mosiah 3:18-19, Mosiah 5:10-12, Alma 36:1-30, Alma 41:13-15 etc., some of which are quite complicated. There is even a grouping of 22 consecutive chapters (ex. 1 Nephi chapters 1-22) that are organized in a chiasmus order, that is, the chiasmus is not found within the individuals passages of the chapters, but that the subjects of the chapters themselves form a chiasmus ordering). Here below is a look at Mosiah 3:18-19, including a breakdown below the original verses:
Mosiah 3:18-19 For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
a they humble themselves
b and become as little children,
c and believe that salvation … is … in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
d For the natural man
e is an enemy to God,
f and has been from the fall of Adam,
f and will be, forever and ever,
e unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit,
d And putteth off the natural man
c and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord,
b and becometh as a child,
a submissive, meek, humble
For more examples and more wonderful information on this subject, see the John Welch article below which can be found on lds.org:
https://www.lds.org/new-era/1972/02/chiasmus-in-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng
COMPLEXITY:
The Book of Mormon is an amazingly complex book, which in an of itself is an evidence which supports that it was not written and/or invented by the ill-educated twenty four year old Joseph Smith Jr. The complexity might even lean towards providing evidence that it could not have been written by any mortal man unless he was inspired by God. To view some of the complexities of the Book of Mormon, see the "Complexity" page on this link by clicking on "Complexity" on the left side bar or by clicking on the link below:
https://sites.google.com/site/amazingbookofmormon/complexity
HEBREW/EGYPTIAN NAMES:
Note: Each of the underlined names below is a link to an article that dives deeper into the Semitic root of each name.
"The Lehite-Mulekite names often show greatest affinity with Semitic languages" (Nibley, CWHN 6:281-94). See below.
ABISH: "Abish" likely translates to "my father is a man".
ABINADI resemble ab "father" names in Hebrew. This name likely translates to "the (my) father is cast down", or "the rock is my father" depending on how it is broken up.
ALMA appears in a Bar Kokhba letter (c. A.D. 130) found in the Judean desert. It likely means, "lad of God", which is a "rather appropriate meaning... since ALMA, when first introduced, is referred to as 'young man' among the "priests"" (Mosiah 17:1-2)
MULEK could be a diminutive of West Semitic mlk "king";
NEPHI: The Hebrew word "Nephilim" (found in Genesis 6:4), translated as "giants", which corresponds well to Nephi (son of Lehi) who, in the Book of Mormon, is described as young man that is "large in stature". Others have suggested that an Egyptian origin of the name "Nephi" leads to the meaning "prophet" or "one who speaks for God" which also completely corresponds with the person of Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
OMNI and LIMHI appear to have the same morphology as Old Testament Omri and Zimri;
JERSHON is remarkably close to a noun form of the Hebrew root yrš (see JERSHON in Name Index), and likely means, "place of inheritance", which is very appropriate regarding the context of it's mentioning in the Book of Mormon: "We will give up the land of Jershon . . . and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance” (Alma 27:24, Alma 35:14)
Some Lehite-Mulekite names resemble EGYPTIAN: AMMON, KORIHOR, PAHORAN (Hebrew pḥh means "governor") , and PAANCHI ("he will live" or "the living one"), (CWHN 5:25-34).
Jaredite names "exhibit no consistently obvious linguistic affinity". This is interesting since this is a distinct and much older people (coming from the time of the tower of Babel) than the other peoples in the Book of Mormon. This is also an interesting observation in light of the fact that the Tower of Babel incident is connected with the creation and division of new languages. Since, as recorded in the Book of Ether, the languages of Jared and his family were not changed (as were the rest of the world), they may have continued to speak the original Adamic language, and it would therefore make sense that their language would not be a natural relationship with Sematic languages which are eventual branches from the new languages created at the Tower of Babel.
MOSIAH: "Mosiah I was the father of Benjamin and king over Zarahemla (Omni 1:12, 14–19, 20, 23). Mosiah II was his grandson, and is the Mosiah of the book of Mosiah. Both Mosiahs are depicted in the Book of Mormon as exemplary leaders of extraordinary practical and spiritual ability. They both were champions of justice and mercy. At first glance the name Mosiah might be seen as being derived from the Hebrew word messiah. Kings, after all, were anointed, and so something like this name or ttitle may have been used in the line of Nephite kings. A more likely suggestion is that the name Mosiah derives from the Hebrew word môšiaʿ (mo-SHE-ah), or “a champion of justice in a situation of controversy, battle or oppression.”1 This word comes from the verb yasha, meaning “to help,” or “save.”2 (Its nominal form yesha means “deliverance, rescue, salvation,” etc.3) As a noun for a deliverer or rescuer, Môšiaʿ appears several times in the Hebrew Bible. Ehud is called a môšiaʿ (“deliverer”) in Judges 3:15. The Lord himself is described as Israel’s môšiaʿ (“saviour”) in Isaiah 49:26. The term likewise appears in the legal context of the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 22:27), as well as Moses’ final speech before the children of Israel entered Canaan (Deuteronomy 28:29)."
OLIVE TREES IN VINEYARDS: The Allegory of the Olive Trees in Jacob 5 compares the growing of olive trees to the scattering and gathering of Israel. However, the allegories refers to the area as a "vineyard" multiple times. Some critics have claimed that this is a clear error since vineyards produce grapes, not olives. That seems like a very understandable criticism since the common understanding of vineyards is indeed that they produce grapes. However, it appears that the Book of Mormon contains so much more than a "common understanding", for a quick google search produced the farming article below that is taken from a non-religious site. The article (from which an excerpt is shared here below) explains the olive trees have been planted in vineyards for thousands of years, particular in the ancient world near the Mediterranean Sea (which is the land of the Jews) This allegory was written by Jacob, whose parents and brothers grew up in Jerusalem right where this type of planting was common. It is very unlikely that Joseph Smith (who didn't even know that the city of Jerusalem had a wall around it) knew this fact, which suggests that he received this knowledge from some other source (even a divine source): "Olive trees have been planted in and around vineyards for thousands of years... Olive trees were planted in and around vineyards throughout the ancient world along the shores of the sea that gave the warm, dry climate of the area its name. Mediterranean Europe and Eurasia enjoyed long, warm, dry growing seasons and vineyards and olive groves provided two staples of the local diet -- wine and olive oil. The tradition of planting olive trees and grapes in the same area was part of an approach to farming -- known as “coltura promiscua” or polyculture that mixed crops together in fields. The traditional mix of olives and grapes was brought to the New World by Europeans who established the American wine industry in the 19th century."
PARALLELS BETWEEN NATIVE AMERICAN & CHRISTIAN/LDS BELIEFS:
Here below is a list of just some of the many similar beliefs and ceremonies between Native Americans and Christianity (particularly Latter Day Saints). While such parallels do not prove that these two have a common history, it is evidence (sometimes very strong evidence) that should be considered.
https://rgdn.info/en/prorochestva_indeyskogo_plemeni_hopi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi_mythology#Major_deities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_mythology#Creation_beliefs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo#Spiritual_and_religious_beliefs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_mythology
http://inthecavityofarock.blogspot.com/2010/09/hopi-children-stories-tie-hopi-history.html
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/ThePeacemakerAndTheTreeOfPeace-Iroquois.html
http://www.templestudy.com/2008/02/06/the-hopi-nakwach-the-symbol-of-brotherhood/
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