Book of Mormon Evidence: Verbal Punctuation

Generally speaking, modern languages contain punctuation marks to help separate ideas and clarify meaning. These include items such as commas or periods that establish breaks in sentences or clauses. In contrast, “Ancient languages tend to do without typographic punctuation; they use words for punctuation instead.”1

This appears to be the case for the Book of Mormon as well, which was initially dictated and transcribed without any punctuation at all. John Gilbert, the typesetter for the Book of Mormon’s original 1830 publication, remarked, “Every Chapter, if I remember correctly, was one solid paragraph, without a punctuation mark, from beginning to end.”2

In a series of recent studies, John Gee has looked closer at the verbal punctuation in the Book of Mormon, including the words found at the beginning and end of each chapter in the original 1830 edition.3 He also looked at other instances of verbal punctuation throughout the text, noting how specific words or phrases have been used to help the flow of the Book of Mormon’s narrative in ways typical of ancient documents. His findings regarding three cases of verbal punctuation are summarized below.

(And) Now

The first category of verbal punctuation also happens to be “the most common of all beginnings or endings” of the original chapter breaks in the Book of Mormon.4 The word now (or the phrase and now) not only helps designate a new chapter, but “it also functions as a marker of a major break within the chapter.”5 That is, as Gee observes, “the phrase ‘and now’ serves as the rough equivalent of a new paragraph marker. It can mark a change of topic, the end of a quotation, the beginning of a new chapter, or some other major transition in the text.”6

The following passages offer some examples of internal breaks utilizing the phrase and now:

These and other instances of and now in the Book of Mormon may derive from the Hebrew wĕ-ʿattāh, which has the same general usage in both Epigraphic Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible.7 Interestingly, “there seems to have been a change in scribal practice after the Jews were carried captive into Babylon,” during which the use of the phrase “and now/wĕ-ʿattāh” disappeared.8 That the Book of Mormon appears to preserve “this pre-exilic scribal convention when the main line of Hebrew abandoned it” is notable.9

After comparing the Book of Mormon’s use of and now to Joseph Smith’s personal writings from 1830–1833, Gee found that Joseph rarely used the phrase, indicating it “was not characteristic of Joseph Smith’s style during the production of the Book of Mormon.”10 Thus, it appears to preserve a more literal translation of the characters on the Book of Mormon plates.

Nevertheless

Another example of apparent verbal punctuation identified by Gee is the term nevertheless, which “occurs 177 times in the Book of Mormon.”11 Unlike the phrase and now, this term does not mark transitions but rather “functions as an adversative that serves to draw a distinction between what comes before and what comes after, where the contrast between what precedes and what follows is so stark that nothing that comes before would prepare the reader for what follows.”12

For instance, in 1 Nephi 1:1, Nephi introduces himself as “having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days.” As Gee notes regarding this passage, “Saying that one had seen many afflictions would not necessarily lead one to conclude that one was highly favored of the Lord. Normally in the ancient world one would think that someone who is highly favored of a god would see fewer afflictions than one who is not.”13 As seen in the following examples, this is one of the most common usages of nevertheless in the Book of Mormon:

• “And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren. Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:1–2)
• “Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their minds, and the stiffness of their necks; nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from the face of the land” (Jarom 1:3)
• “Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgment; nevertheless, he did spare the righteous that they should not perish, but did deliver them out of the hands of their enemies” (Omni 1:7)
• “And now Limhi was desirous that his father should not be destroyed; nevertheless, Limhi was not ignorant of the iniquities of his father, he himself being a just man” (Mosiah 19:17)
• “And it came to pass that they took him; and his name was Nehor; and they carried him upon the top of the hill Manti, and there he was caused, or rather did acknowledge, between the heavens and the earth, that what he had taught to the people was contrary to the word of God; and there he suffered an ignominious death. Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land” (Alma 1:15–16)
• “And there being but little timber upon the face of the land, nevertheless the people who went forth became exceedingly expert in the working of cement; therefore they did build houses of cement, in the which they did dwell” (Helaman 3:7)
• “They heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn” (3 Nephi 11:3)
• “Therefore they did exercise power and authority over the disciples of Jesus who did tarry with them, and they did cast them into prison; but by the power of the word of God, which was in them, the prisons were rent in twain, and they went forth doing mighty miracles among them. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding all these miracles, the people did harden their hearts, and did seek to kill them, even as the Jews at Jerusalem sought to kill Jesus, according to his word” (4 Nephi 1:30–31)
• “They did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives” (Mormon 2:14)
• “For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea” (Ether 2:24)

In each of these cases, an unexpected outcome follows the word nevertheless “to show that matters were not as the text previously described might lead one to expect to be the case.”14

In a few other cases, this word can also help structure a narrative. For example, in what has sometimes been termed Nephi’s Psalm, nevertheless is used to shift between positive and negative moods:15

Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.

Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. (2 Nephi 4:16–20)

Likewise, after mentioning the two largest tribal groups among Lehi’s posterity, Jacob uses nevertheless to delineate the main tribes into subgroups: “Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites” (Jacob 1:13).

While it is not clear what Hebrew word may have been used to convey this adversative, the Hebrew kî could be used in numerous circumstances, including the functions mentioned above that are seen in the Book of Mormon. Other ancient words or phrases could also have been rendered as “nevertheless” in the Book of Mormon.16

After comparing the Book of Mormon’s usage to Joseph Smith’s early writings, Gee notes, “In all of Joseph Smith’s writings, the term nevertheless is used with much less frequency than it is in the Book of Mormon. When he does use it, he uses it in a way that differs from that of the Book of Mormon.”17

Behold

Finally, Gee notes that within the Book of Mormon there “are 1,213 instances of the use of behold as verbal punctuation.”18 This word is used in a wide variety of ways to highlight or emphasize some aspect of the text.

Sometimes the Book of Mormon uses behold in a deictic sense to point something out. This is typically done to highlight a person, place, thing, or specific event or state of affairs. Consider the following examples.

Pointing Out a Person:

• “Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee” (1 Nephi 3:13)
• “Behold, my sons, and my daughters, who are the sons and the daughters of my firstborn, I would that ye should give ear unto my words” (2 Nephi 4:3)
• “Behold, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, having been called of God, and ordained after the manner of his holy order, and having been consecrated by my brother Nephi” (2 Nephi 6:2)
• “Behold, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you” (2 Nephi 30:1).
• “Behold, my brethren, ye can go to the other plates of Nephi” (Jarom 1:14)
• “Behold, here is the man” (Mosiah 12:16)
• “Behold, here is the king of the Lamanites” (Mosiah 20:13)
• “Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren” (Mosiah 26:11)
• “Behold, this Lehi was a man who had been with Moroni in the more part of all his battles” (Alma 53:2)
• “Behold, there were two thousand of those young men” (Alma 53:18)
• “Behold, there were men who were judges” (Helaman 8:1)
• “Lord, behold this people repenteth” (Helaman 11:10)
• “Behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man” (3 Nephi 3:12)
• “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him” (3 Nephi 11:7)
• “Behold your little ones” (3 Nephi 17:23)

Pointing Out an Object:

• “Behold the tree” (Jacob 5:23)
• “Behold, there are all kinds of bad fruit” (Jacob 5:32)
• “Behold this last, whose branch hath withered away” (Jacob 5:43)
• “Behold, this is my prophecy” (Jacob 6:1)
• “Behold, this was the desire which I desired of him” (Enos 1:13)
• “And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true” (Mosiah 1:6)
• “Behold, this is my church” (Mosiah 26:22)
• “Behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people” (Alma 9:29)
• “Behold, here are six onties of silver” (Alma 11:22)
• “Behold, here are our weapons of war” (Alma 44:8)
• “Behold, here is one thing in which we may have great joy” (Alma 56:9)
• “Behold, there are many books and many records of every kind” (Helaman 3:15)
• “Behold here is money” (Helaman 9:20)
• “Behold, this body, which ye now behold” (Ether 3:16)

Pointing Out a Place:

• “Behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance” (2 Nephi 10:10)
• “Behold, here are the waters of Mormon” (Mosiah 18:8)
• “Behold, there they found all the people who had departed out of the land of Ammonihah” (Alma 15:1)
• “Behold, there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon” (Alma 16:6)
• “Behold, this great city, and also all those great cities which are round about” (Helaman 7:22)
• “Behold, this is a choice land” (Ether 2:12)

Pointing Out a Time:

• “Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness” (1 Nephi 17:21)
• “Behold, this long time have we nourished this tree” (Jacob 5:31)
• “Behold, two hundred years had passed away” (Jarom 1:5)
• “Behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you” (Mosiah 5:7)
• “Behold, this is the first time that priestcraft has been introduced among this people” (Alma 1:12)
• “Behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God” (Alma 34:32)
• “Behold, this was a critical time for such contentions to be among the people of Nephi” (Alma 51:9)
• “For behold, in the twenty and sixth year, I, Helaman, did march at the head of these two thousand young men to the city of Judea” (Alma 56:9)
• “Behold, this is the twenty and ninth year” (Alma 58:38)
• “Behold, four hundred years have passed away since the coming of our Lord and Savior” (Mormon 8:6)

Pointing Out an Event or State of Affairs:

• “Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you” (1 Nephi 17:47)
• “Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord” (2 Nephi 4:16)
• “Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you” (Mosiah 20:14
• “Behold, our flocks are scattered already” (Alma 17:28)
• “Behold, my brother and brethren are in prison at Middoni” (Alma 20:3)
• “Behold, my joy is full” (Alma 26:11)
• “Behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing” (Alma 34:28)
• “Father, behold our God is with us” (Alma 56:46)
• “Behold, your judge is murdered, and he lieth in his blood” (Helaman 8:27)
• “Behold, your days of probation are past” (Helaman 13:38)
• “Behold, my time is at hand” (3 Nephi 17:1)
• “Behold, my father hath made this record” (Mormon 8:5)
• “Behold, elders, priests, and teachers were baptized” (Moroni 6:1)
• “Behold, my son, I cannot recommend them unto God lest he should smite me” (Moroni 9:21)

The word behold is also used to highlight unexpected events. In these cases, “the narrative would lead to a certain set of expectations, and behold serves to highlight the contrast.”19 For example, Nephi notes that the people of Jerusalem “sought [Lehi’s] life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen” (1 Nephi 1:20). In this case, a tender mercy is typically not the expected outcome when one’s life is in danger. Other examples of this usage include the following verses:

• “A few more days and I go the way of all the earth. But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 1:14–15)
• “And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good fruit, and cast them into the fire. But behold, the servant said unto him: Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it a little longer, that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit unto thee, that thou canst lay it up against the season.” (Jacob 5:26–27)
• “Were it not for this, all mankind must have perished. But behold, the bands of death shall be broken.” (Mosiah 15:19–20)
• “And now, it came to pass in the twenty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, behold, when the Lamanites awoke on the first morning of the first month, behold, they found Amalickiah was dead in his own tent; and they also saw that Teancum was ready to give them battle on that day.” (Alma 52:1)
• “And, supposing that their greatest strength was in the center of the land, therefore he did march forth, giving them no time to assemble themselves together save it were in small bodies; and in this manner they did fall upon them and cut them down to the earth. But behold, this march of Coriantumr through the center of the land gave Moronihah great advantage over them, notwithstanding the greatness of the number of the Nephites who were slain.” (Helaman 1:24–25)
• “It was Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take place. But behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites.” (3 Nephi 4:17–18)
• “And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people. But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin.” (Mormon 2:12–13)
• “Whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account. But behold, I give not the full account, but a part of the account I give.” (Ether 1:4–5)
• “My son, I cannot recommend them unto God lest he should smite me. But behold, my son, I recommend thee unto God.” (Moroni 9:21–22)

Gee also notes that the “Book of Mormon uses behold to indicate a statement that modifies (in the way an adjective modifies a noun) a previous statement. It can reenforce it or clarify the contents or the implications of the sentence. It can also modify a following statement.”20 Consider the following examples:

The word behold in these and other instances likely translates from the Hebrew hinnēh. Notably, biblical scholars have observed that hinnēh is used “to point out an entity, a location, a time, or an event or state of affairs” and “to point out the unexpected cognitive effects of an observation on a character” and “to point to a proposition that needs to be related to another proposition either preparing for or modifying it.”32 These functions closely match the Book of Mormon’s own use of behold.

In contrast, “Joseph Smith used behold more narrowly than the Book of Mormon” in his early writings, even when he appears to have been deliberately imitating the Book of Mormon.33 Furthermore, most instances of Joseph’s usage are found clustered together in a few pages. These instances, found in his 1832 history, were probably “sparked by remembering what God had said to him and disappear after his encounter with the angel.”34

Conclusion

As Gee concluded, “The English Book of Mormon was originally without punctuation marks. These were added by later editors. That does not, however, mean that it was without punctuation. Like most ancient texts, it had a system of verbal punctuation: words and phrases that structured the narrative instead of typographic marks.”35 Significantly, these usage patterns don’t match Joseph Smith’s tendencies in his own personal writings. Even when he used these words and phrases in the same way as found in the Book of Mormon, they appear much more narrowly and less often in his writings.

Together, this data suggests that phrases such as and now and behold are literal translations of an ancient underlying text. In the case of and now, it is also noteworthy that it appears predominantly in pre-exilic writings, thus matching the kind of Hebrew that Nephite prophets would have been familiar with. Overall, these verbal markers add another line of evidence to a growing body of linguistic and literary data supporting the Book of Mormon’s ancient origins.36