Evidence #312 | February 22, 2022
Book of Mormon Evidence: Chiasmus 1 Nephi 13:39–42
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Scripture Central
Abstract
The 6-layer chiastic structure in 1 Nephi 13:39–42 provides evidence of the Book of Mormon’s literary complexity and Hebrew origins.In his study of Nephi’s writings, Dennis Newton concluded that the chiasm in 1 Nephi 13:39–42 was “highly likely” to have been intentionally created.1 The chiasm is given below in its entirety:2
| A | unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the Jews | ||||||
| B | who were scattered upon all the face of the earth, | ||||||
| C | that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true. And the angel spake unto me, saying: | ||||||
| a | These last records, | ||||||
| b | which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, | ||||||
| a* | shall establish the truth of the first [records], | ||||||
| b* | which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, | ||||||
| D | and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, | ||||||
| E | that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; | ||||||
| F | and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved. | ||||||
| F* | And they must come [unto him] | ||||||
| E* | according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb; and the words of the Lamb | ||||||
| D* | shall be made known | ||||||
| C* | in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; wherefore they both shall be established in one; | ||||||
| B* | for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth. | ||||||
| A* | And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles | ||||||
Structural Analysis
Sections A and A* both feature the terms “Jews” and “Gentiles.” While the word “Gentiles” (on its own) shows up one other time in the chiasm (in section C), the Jew/Gentile dichotomy doesn’t appear in any other section. Moreover, it should be noted that these terms, although grouped together in A/A* are presented in chiastic order: Gentiles – Jews – Jews – Gentiles.
Sections B and B* pair the phrases “all the face of the” and “all the earth.” These ideas are clearly synonymous, and these are the only sections which feature the term “earth.”
Sections C and C* emphasize the way that the Book of Mormon (described as the record of Lehi’s seed which, along with other records, will be had among the Gentiles) will “establish” the truth of the Bible (described as “the records … of the twelve apostles of the lamb”). These are the only sections that discuss these records and this theme. Moreover, these are the only sections that feature the word “establish” and the phrase “records … of the twelve apostles of the lamb.” The words “one” and “first” found in the following phrases may also be parallel: “establish the truth of the first” and “established in one.”3
Section C is a little longer than C* and features its own internal parallelism, which can be formatted as follows:4
| a | These last records, | ||
| b | which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, | ||
| a* | shall establish the truth of the first [records], | ||
| b* | which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, | ||
Sections a and a* of this internal structure pair “last records” with “first [records].”5 These ideas are clearly related (in that they both discuss records), and “first” and “last” are binary terms.
Sections b and b* of the internal structure each have a dependent clause that begins with “which” and that identifies the source of the records in a/a*. “Gentiles” and the “apostles of the Lamb” creates a conceptually similar (although not identical) pairing to Gentiles/Jews in A and A*.6
Sections D and D* share a similar phrase: “make known” (repeated twice in D) and “made known” (appearing just once in D*). Of course, make and made are the same verb, just given in different tenses, so the phrases should be considered equivalent. These are the only sections where either of these terms show up in the chiasm, either individually or as a short sequential phrase.
Sections E and E* feature the phrase “the Lamb,” which shows up once in E and twice in E*. This short phrase appears elsewhere in the chiasm (C/C*), yet those instances are embedded in the longer phrase “twelve apostles of the lamb.” Thus, E and E* are the only places where the phrase occurs in isolation, strengthening the distinctiveness of the parallel.
Sections F and F* contain the clauses “all men must come unto him” and “they must come [unto him]” Situated as they are, in the center of the chiasm, it is clear that “they” in F* refers to “all men” in F. These equivalent subjects are, in each case, followed by the same verbal phrase: “must come.” These are the only sections where the words “must” and “come” are used, either in isolation or together.7 Finally, while the phrase “unto him” is only explicitly stated in F, it is obviously implied in F*. The need to come unto Christ is a doctrinally powerful and therefore fitting central message.
Statistical Analysis
As calculated by Newton, this chiasm has a 99.6% chance of having been intentionally created.8 Stated differently, the chance of it having occurred randomly is 1 in 250.
Conclusion
The chiasm in 1 Nephi 13:39–42 has a lot to offer. Every section contains a least one precisely repeated term,9 and most of these are accompanied by parallel phrasal components or compound ideas. The outer boundaries of the chiasm (“Gentiles/Jews” in A/A*) correspond well with the chiasm’s powerful central message that “all men must come unto” Christ (F/F*). This relationship adds to the cohesiveness of the literary unit.
Extraneous repetition of key terms is limited and largely compensated for by the complexity of the overall structure, which runs 6 layers deep. Moreover, such redundancies are accounted for in Newton’s statistical analysis. Even with them, the chiasm objectively has less than a 1% chance of having occurred by accident, making the case for its intentionality compelling.10
Dennis Newton, “Nephi’s Use of Inverted Parallels,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 22 (2016): 79–106.
Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards, “When are Chiasms Admissible as Evidence?” BYU Studies 49, no. 4 (2010): 131–154.
Donald W. Parry, Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text Reformatted (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2007), 5–6.
Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards, “Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Chance?” BYU Studies 43, no. 2 (2004): 103–130.
- 1. Dennis Newton, “Nephi’s Use of Inverted Parallels,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 22 (2016): 91.
- 2. This formatting is adapted slightly from Donald W. Parry, Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text Reformatted (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2007), 28.
- 3. Just as “first” and “one” are closely related terms in English, they can be designated by a single term (echad) in Hebrew. It can mean “one (whole), single, same” as well as “one of a known group, oft[en] of two,” and also the “first one” in a list or group. David Clines, The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, 8 vols. (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 1993–2011), 1:179–183.
- 4. Parallel elements are underlined to distinguish them from shared elements in macro structure, which are bolded.
- 5. The word “records” is clearly implied after “first.” See the preceding discussion of records in 1 Nephi 13:38–39.
- 6.Nephi stated earlier: “Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God. And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles …” (1 Nephi 13:24–26). As can be seen, by the time that Nephi introduces his chiasm in verses 39–42, he has already established a clear link between the apostles of the Lamb and the Jews. Hence it is meaningful for him to pair the “apostles of the lamb” with the “Gentiles” in b/b*. They have, by that point, become conceptual opposites (just like Jews/Gentiles).
- 7. The word “cometh” appears in C*, but its appearance there isn’t preceded or in any way accompanied by the idea of “all men,” nor is it preceded by the auxiliary verb “must.”
- 8. See Newton, “Nephi’s Use of Inverted Parallels,” 91. Newton used a method of statistical analysis developed in Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards, “Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Chance?” BYU Studies 43, no. 2 (2004): 103–130. See also Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards, “When are Chiasms Admissible as Evidence?” BYU Studies 49, no. 4 (2010): 131–154.
- 9. This includes different tenses or forms of the same term, such as “establish”/“established” or “make”/“made.”
- 10. It should be noted that the chiasm presented in this evidence summary is likely statistically stronger than arrangement presented by Parry (which was used in Newton’s analysis). For further information about the criteria developed for assessing chiasmus, see Book of Mormon Central, “What Counts as Chiasmus? (1 Nephi 19:7),” KnoWhy 337 (July 10, 2017); Neal Rappleye, “Chiasmus Criteria in Review,” BYU Studies Quarterly 59, no. 2 (2020): 289–309; John W. Welch, “Criteria for Identifying and Evaluating the Presence of Chiasmus,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 4, no. 2 (1995): 1–14; “Criteria Chart,” at Chiasmus Resources, online at chiasmusresources.org. See also Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Chiasmus,” Evidence# 0006, September 19, 2020, online at evidencecentral.org.