Word Pairs and Distinctive Combinations in the Book of Mormon

The literary richness of the Book of Mormon is attested by the appearance of word pairs, in both parallel and conjoined pairs. On occasion, combinations of three, four, or even more words appear together more than once. Possible reasons for the scriptural use of word pairs include literary functions, echoes of the law of Moses, theological terms, universals (or merisms), repetition, and mnemonic function. Duke builds on previous studies of word pairs in the Book of Mormon by Kevin Barney and John Tvedtnes. The frequency of word pairs and other combinations of words witnesses to the Hebrew roots of the language of the book.