Inverted Quotations

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Scripture Central

Abstract

The Book of Mormon features many examples of inverted quotations, both of biblical passages and also internally among Nephite authors. This is consistent with a feature of biblical literature that has come to be known as Seidel’s Law, in which the inversion of quoted statements seems intentional.

Inverted Quotations in the Bible

In the 1950s, a biblical scholar named Moses Seidel noticed an interesting phenomenon in some biblical texts.¹ Latter-day Saint Hebrew scholar Donald Parry explains, “According to Seidel, Old Testament writers quoting earlier authors sometimes signaled that fact by reversing elements of the quotation. This observation came to be called Seidel’s law.”² A notable instance can be seen in the inverted relationship between Leviticus 26:4 and Ezekiel 34:27 (inverted elements highlighted in blue and green):³

Leviticus 26	Ezekiel 34
4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.	27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

Another interesting example—this time involving the reversal of three different elements—can be seen in Leviticus 26:42, where the names of the prominent patriarchal ancestors are listed in the following order: Jacob, Isaac, Abraham. “This is the only time in the entire Old Testament that the traditional sequence (Abraham - Isaac - Jacob) is given in a reversed order,” writes Pancratius Beentjes.⁴ This can be seen by comparing the passage from Leviticus 26:42 with the first instance of this list in the Bible, found in Genesis 50:24:

Genesis 50	Leviticus 26
24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.	42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

Beentjes points out that biblical scholars have viewed the passage from Leviticus 26:42 as “secondary” (i.e., a later scribal addition). He thus argues, “The addition in Lev 26:42 with the names of the Patriarchs in a reversed sequence can be meant to draw the attention and to stress what is going to be said.”⁵

In some instances, a quotation is not only inverted, but a meaningful change may be made to the wording. This can be seen in Haggai 1:10, which is subsequently quoted and inverted in Zachariah 8:12. Yet in the latter passage, the opposite meaning is conveyed (instead of being “stayed,” the heaven and earth “give”):

Haggai 1	Zechariah 8
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.	12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

Many examples of inverted quotations can also be found in the New Testament. Paul seems to have been particularly fond of this this literary device.⁶ Notice how in Romans 11:3 Paul inverts the first elements of a passage from the Septuagint (1 Kings 19:10),⁸ but then finishes out the rest of the quote as originally given (similar non-inverted language is bolded in black):⁷

1 Kings 19:10 (LXX)	Romans 11:3
They have torn down thine altars, and they have killed thy prophets by the sword, and I alone am left and they are seeking my life to take it away.	Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.

This type of additional textual similarity leaves little doubt about the intentionality of the quotation, and therefore strengthens the case for the purposeful inversion of key elements.

Inverted Quotations in the Book of Mormon

In recent decades, Latter-day Saint scholars with Hebrew training or a background in biblical studies have noticed that Seidel’s Law also seems to be followed in Book of Mormon texts.⁹ This occurs in passages that quote from the Old Testament as well as internally, where Nephite authors quote or paraphrase one another.

Alma preaching to the Zoramites. Image via churchofjesuschrist.org.

Nephite Authors Quoting Biblical Texts

An example of a biblical passage that seems to have been intentionally inverted in the Book of Mormon can be seen 2 Nephi 28:30, quoting from Isaiah 28:10:¹⁰

Isaiah 28	2 Nephi 28
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little	30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little

As in Paul’s quotation of the Septuagint given above, there can be little doubt that this is an intentional quotation, which strengthens the plausibility of an intended reversal of elements. Moreover, the way that Isaiah twice emphasized each element makes their inversion somewhat harder to ascribe to mere chance.

Another reversal—this time of three consecutive elements—can be seen in the quotation of Isaiah 52:7 found in 1 Nephi 13:37:¹¹

Isaiah 52	1 Nephi 13
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!	37 … and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.

Some of Moroni’s final words are especially intriguing because we have two examples of inversion given back-to-back in Moroni 10:31. The first quotation seems to be closely paraphrasing Isaiah 52:1–2:

Isaiah 52

Moroni 10

1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever …

Moroni’s usage of these passages is fascinating because he combines elements from Isaiah 52:1–2 into a shorter, condensed statement with multiple inversions. As noted by Parry, “Moroni cites this passage from Isaiah but interchanges Zion and Jerusalem, thus commanding Jerusalem to awake and Zion to don ‘beautiful garments’.”¹² In addition, notice how the elements “arise” and “from the dust” also get swapped around.

Immediately after this statement, Moroni quotes another passage from Isaiah which involves yet another reversal of elements, considerably strengthening the case for intentionality:¹³

Isaiah 54	Moroni 10
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;	31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, …

One final example is worth noting. When preaching to the people of Gideon, Alma explained, “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people” (Alma 7:11). Although Alma seems to be quoting here from some prior text, one will look in vain for an Old Testament passage that mentions “pains” and “sicknesses” together. In fact, Alma 7:11 seems to be the only passage in the entire Standard Works that uses these two words in close proximity.¹⁴ However, if one surveys the underlying Hebrew of the Old Testament, these two ideas show up in an inverse sequence in Isaiah 53:4, with “pains” corresponding to “sorrows” (mak’ōbenu) and “sicknesses” corresponding to “griefs” (ḥolāyēnu):¹⁵

Isaiah 53	Alma 7:11
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs [ḥolāyēnu], and carried our sorrows [mak’ōbenu]: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.	11 … and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains [mak’ōbenu] and the sicknesses [ḥolāyēnu] of his people.

In other words, the actual Hebrew terms behind “griefs” and “sorrows” in Isaiah 53:4 correspond very closely with the ideas of “pains” and “sicknesses” from Alma 7:11, which claims to be quoting from some prior text. Notably, this intriguing correspondence isn’t clear in the King James Bible.

Nephite Authors Quoting Nephite Texts

The Book of Mormon also exhibits various forms of inverted quotations of internal texts. For instance, in 2 Nephi 5:19, Nephi records the fulfillment of a prophecy given to him by the Lord all the way back in 1 Nephi 2:22. Because these are the only places in the Book of Mormon where this prophecy was given and then recorded as being fulfilled, we can assume that the latter passage, which happens to feature an inversion, is intentionally allusive:

1 Nephi 2	2 Nephi 5
22 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren.	19 Wherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time they sought to take away my life.

A stronger example, due to language that is more closely parallel, can be seen in the account of the people of Alma and their conversion at the Waters of Mormon (Mosiah 18:29). Notice how Mormon draws upon words previously declared by King Benjamin (Mosiah 4:26), but then swaps the main elements:

Mosiah 4	Mosiah 18
26 and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants	29 imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants

Later, in Helaman 4:25, Mormon gives a similar example, where two key words (one of which is conceptually similar but not a precise match) are swapped as part of a fairly obvious quotation of Mosiah 1:13:

Mosiah 1	Helaman 4
13 and he will no more preserve them by his matchless and marvelous power, as he has hitherto preserved our fathers.	25 Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power

On multiple occasions, Alma seems to utilize inverted quotations of King Benjamin. While most instances involve the reversal of two key elements (often with additional parallel language strengthening the textual relationship), the first example features three initial items in a list that are reversed:

Mosiah 3	Alma 13
19 …and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love	28 … becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering …
Mosiah 5	Alma 19
2 which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil	33 and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil
Mosiah 4	Alma 26
9 he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend	35 he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things
Mosiah 2	Alma 34
36 ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths	35 therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you

The book of 3 Nephi features multiple inversions. One example is notable because it—much like the reversal of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Leviticus 26:42—departs from the standard version of a list. On 13 occasions, the Book of Mormon presents the following items in this exact order: (1) nations, (2) kindreds, (3) tongues, and (people).¹⁶ However, when Jesus preached among the Nephites in 3 Nephi 26:24, he rearranged the list, so that the last element is instead given first. The following chart shows Jesus’ words next to a contextually similar statement given by King Benjamin:

Mosiah 3:24

3 Nephi 26

20 And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people

24 whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil

24 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil

When Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount, he repackaged four elements from the sermon in reverse order:

3 Nephi 12

3 Nephi 15–16

12:13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.

12:14 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

12:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfil;

12:18 For verily I say unto you, one jot nor one tittle hath not passed away from the law, but in me it hath all been fulfilled.

15:5 Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law; therefore it hath an end.

15:6 Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled.

15:12 Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph.

16:15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.

While this example is somewhat unique—in that it involves statements that are scattered throughout separate sermons, rather than concentrated in two specific and related passages—it still involves the principle of inversion. John W. Welch explains,

Moreover, repetition in the opposite order of the original is thought by scholars to be a strong sign, according to what has been identified as Seidel’s Law, that the repetition in the reverse order is a conscious form of quotation. In this light, it is noteworthy that Jesus’ four main points in 3 Nephi 15–16, immediately following the sermon, appear in the opposite order from their original order in the sermon.¹⁷

If that weren’t enough, Jesus delivered a similar inversion of four elements from the same sermon just a few chapters later in 3 Nephi 18:12–34:¹⁸

3 Nephi 11–14

3 Nephi 18

11:28 And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you.

12:16 Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

14:7 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

14:24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—

12 And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.

20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.

24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.

34 And I give you these commandments because of the disputations which have been among you. And blessed are ye if ye have no disputations among you.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that the Title Page of the Book of Mormon features a notable reversal of elements. When talking about the Jaredite origin story, Moroni reverses three elements given by Mormon all the way back in Mosiah 28:17:¹⁹

Mosiah 28	Title Page
17 it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth	a record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven

Conclusion

All of the examples given above, as well as other proposals not covered in the body of this article, are presented in comprehensive charts in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 (which treat Bible and Book of Mormon quotations separately). Altogether, more than 30 proposed instances of inverted quotation have now been identified in the Nephite record. A good number of these were discovered by previous authors, but many others—especially internal quotations in the Book of Mormon—are presented for the first time in this article. Because much work remains to be done on Book of Mormon intertextuality, it is likely that more examples remain undetected in the text.

A gold plate is written on by Moroni, son of Mormon. Image via churchofjesuschrist.org.

It could be asked whether these inverted quotations—whether identified in the Bible or the Book of Mormon—are truly intentional. Some might conclude that this is simply a stylistic feature of oral tradition, where stock phrases could be expressed variously. Others might assume the change in sequence is simply due to occasional confusion or a lack of concern for the original ordering of elements.²⁰ In his treatment of inverted quotations in biblical texts, Beentjes pushes back against such conclusions:

In my opinion the problem can not be solved in that way. If the inversion of phrases had been a common pattern in oral biblical literature indeed, it may be wondered why this literary phenomenon then does occur only a few times in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. Also the inverted quotation as a stylistic pattern in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament cannot be put aside with the disparaging remark that, in those places the authors were quoting untidily. Because why can they be extremely accurate otherwise in their quotations in most other places of their book? Reading some examples of inverted quotations … it is hard to avoid the impression that the biblical author did rework the original text on purpose. … At this moment we can say that in an existing formulation (a sentence, a colon, an established expression, a rare combination of words) the author reverses the sequence. And by this deviating model he attains a moment of extra attention in the listener (or the reader), because the latter hears something else than the traditional words.²¹

This same line of reasoning seems to hold true for the Book of Mormon as well. This can be readily seen in the numerous quotations of King Benjamin’s speech (which were originally presented in a previous study and proved valuable to identifying many of the new proposals in this article).²² As researchers at Scripture Central were surveying the many quotations and allusions to Benjamin’s words found in the writings of subsequent Nephite prophets, it became clear just how often the elements of Benjamin’s statements were repackaged in the same sequence in which they were originally given. Only on certain occasions did authors appear to clearly invert the order of key elements when delivering verbatim or near-verbatim quotations.²³ In such instances, it indeed leaves the impression that the swapping of elements was intentional, just as Beentjes argues is true among biblical texts.

As explained by Parry,

This literary practice was utterly unnoticed in the Hebrew Bible until the mid-twentieth century, so its presence in the Book of Mormon argues against modern authorship or, given its repeated use, coincidence. Rather, the use of inverted quotations is another striking example of unmistakably ancient literary forms discoverable in the Book of Mormon.²⁴

Donald Parry, Preserved in Translation: Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2020).

John W. Welch, “Echoes from the Sermon on the Mount,” in The Sermon on the Mount in Latter-day Scripture, ed. Gaye Strathearn, Thomas A. Wayment, and Daniel L. Belnap (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 314–323.

David E. Bokovoy and John A. Tvedtnes, “Seidel’s Law,” in Testaments: Links between the Book of Mormon and the Hebrew Bible (Toelle, UT: Heritage Press, 2003), 56–60.

BibleIsaiah 52:7 / 1 Nephi 13:37Isaiah 48:18 / 1 Nephi 2:9–10Genesis 1:21–27 / 2 Nephi 2:15Isaiah 28:10 / 2 Nephi 28:30Isaiah 11:11; 29:14 / 2 Nephi 29:1Psalm 95:7–8 / Jacob 1:7; 6:6Isaiah 52:7 / Mosiah 15:14–15Psalm 24:4 / Alma 5:19Isaiah 53:4 / Alma 7:11Micah 6:6–7 / Alma 34:10Micah 6:8 / Alma 34:15Isaiah 52:2 / Moroni 10:31Isaiah 54:1 / Moroni 10:31Book of Mormon1 Nephi 15:17 / Title PageMosiah 28:17 / Title Page2 Nephi 2:22 / 2 Nephi 5:192 Nephi 3:14–16 / 2 Nephi 25:21Mosiah 4:26 / Mosiah 18:29Mosiah 5:9 / Mosiah 26:23–24Mosiah 7:7 / Mosiah 27:25Mosiah 4:3 / Alma 4:14Mosiah 3:19 / Alma 13:28Mosiah 5:19 / Alma 19:33Mosiah 4:9 / Alma 26:35Mosiah 5:8 / Alma 34:15Mosiah 1:3 / Alma 37:13Mosiah 1:13 / Helaman 4:25Mosiah 5:8 / Helaman 15:7Helaman 13:32 / 3 Nephi 8:23–243 Nephi 12:13–18 / 3 Nephi 15:5–16:153 Nephi 11:28–14:24 / 3 Nephi 18:12–34Mosiah 3:24 / 3 Nephi 26:24Mosiah 2:27–28 / Mormon 7:6–7

Bible

Isaiah 52:7 / 1 Nephi 13:37

Isaiah 48:18 / 1 Nephi 2:9–10

Genesis 1:21–27 / 2 Nephi 2:15

Isaiah 28:10 / 2 Nephi 28:30

Isaiah 11:11; 29:14 / 2 Nephi 29:1

Psalm 95:7–8 / Jacob 1:7; 6:6

Isaiah 52:7 / Mosiah 15:14–15

Psalm 24:4 / Alma 5:19

Isaiah 53:4 / Alma 7:11

Micah 6:6–7 / Alma 34:10

Micah 6:8 / Alma 34:15

Isaiah 52:2 / Moroni 10:31

Isaiah 54:1 / Moroni 10:31

Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 15:17 / Title Page

Mosiah 28:17 / Title Page

2 Nephi 2:22 / 2 Nephi 5:19

2 Nephi 3:14–16 / 2 Nephi 25:21

Mosiah 4:26 / Mosiah 18:29

Mosiah 5:9 / Mosiah 26:23–24

Mosiah 7:7 / Mosiah 27:25

Mosiah 4:3 / Alma 4:14

Mosiah 3:19 / Alma 13:28

Mosiah 5:19 / Alma 19:33

Mosiah 4:9 / Alma 26:35

Mosiah 5:8 / Alma 34:15

Mosiah 1:3 / Alma 37:13

Mosiah 1:13 / Helaman 4:25

Mosiah 5:8 / Helaman 15:7

Helaman 13:32 / 3 Nephi 8:23–24

3 Nephi 12:13–18 / 3 Nephi 15:5–16:15

3 Nephi 11:28–14:24 / 3 Nephi 18:12–34

Mosiah 3:24 / 3 Nephi 26:24

Mosiah 2:27–28 / Mormon 7:6–7

Inverted Quotations (Nephite Authors Quoting Biblical Texts)

Isaiah 57	1 Nephi 13²⁵
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!	37 … and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.
Isaiah 48	1 Nephi 2²⁶
18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:	9 O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness! 10 And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!
Genesis 1	2 Nephi 2²⁷
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. … 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. … 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.	15 And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; …
Isaiah 28	2 Nephi 28²⁸
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:	30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; …
Isaiah	2 Nephi 29²⁹
11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: …	1 But behold, there shall be many—at that day when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work among them, that I may remember my covenants which I have made unto the children of men, that I may set my hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel;
Psalm 95	Jacob³⁰
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:	1:7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. 6:6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?
Isaiah 52	Mosiah 15³¹
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!	14 And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth! 15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!
Psalm 24	Alma 5³²
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.	19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? …
Isaiah 53	Alma 7:11³³
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs [ḥolāyēnu], and carried our sorrows [mak’ōbenu]: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.	11 … and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains [mak’ōbenu] and the sicknesses [ḥolāyēnu] of his people.
Micah 6	Alma 34³⁴
6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?	10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; …
Micah 6	Alma 34³⁵
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?	15 … this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.
Isaiah 52	Moroni 10³⁶
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.	31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever …
Isaiah 54	Moroni 10³⁷
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;	31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, …

Inverted Quotations (Nephite Authors Quoting Book of Mormon Texts)

1 Nephi 15	Title Page
17 and he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the Gentiles	To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile
Mosiah 28	Title Page³⁸
17 it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth	a record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven
1 Nephi 2	2 Nephi 5
22 And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren.	19 Wherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time they sought to take away my life.
2 Nephi 3	2 Nephi 25³⁹
14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise; … 16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever.	21 Wherefore, for this cause hath the Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation, that the promise may be fulfilled unto Joseph, that his seed should never perish as long as the earth should stand.
Mosiah 4	Mosiah 18
26 and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants	29 imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants
Mosiah 5	Mosiah 26
9 And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ	23 For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. 24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth
Mosiah 5	Mosiah 27
7 for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters	25 Marvel not that all mankind … must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters
Mosiah 4	Alma 4
3 and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins …	14 Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead,
Mosiah 3	Alma 13
19 …and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love	28 … becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering …
Mosiah 5	Alma 19
2 which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil	33 and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil
Mosiah 4	Alma 26
9 he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend	35 he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things
Mosiah 5	Alma 34
8 There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ …	15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name …
Mosiah 2	Alma 34
36 ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths	35 therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you (Alma 34:35)
Mosiah 1	Alma 37
3 … My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plates, which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance, even at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God.	13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.
Mosiah 3	Alma 37
15 Yet the Lord God saw that his people were a stiffnecked people, and he appointed unto them a law, even the law of Moses. And many signs, and wonders, and types, and shadows showed he unto them, concerning his coming	43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; … 45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing?
Mosiah 1	Helaman 4
13 and he will no more preserve them by his matchless and marvelous power, as he has hitherto preserved our fathers.	25 Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power
Mosiah 5	Helaman 15
8 for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name	7 which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them
Helaman 13	3 Nephi 8⁴⁰
32 and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say: 33 O that I had repented	23 and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them. 24 And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day,
3 Nephi 12	3 Nephi 15–16⁴¹
12:13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. 12:14 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. 12:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfil; 12:18 For verily I say unto you, one jot nor one tittle hath not passed away from the law, but in me it hath all been fulfilled.	15:5 Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law; therefore it hath an end. 15:6 Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled. 15:12 Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph. 16:15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.
3 Nephi 11–14	3 Nephi 18⁴²
11:28 And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you. 12:16 Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 14:7 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 14:24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—	12 And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock. 20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you. 24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed. 34 And I give you these commandments because of the disputations which have been among you. And blessed are ye if ye have no disputations among you.
Mosiah 3:24	3 Nephi 26
20 And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people 24 whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil	24 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil
Mosiah 2	Mormon 7
27 … that I might be found blameless, and that your blood should not come upon me, when I shall stand to be judged of God of the things whereof he hath commanded me concerning you. 28 I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together that I might rid my garments of your blood, at this period of time when I am about to go down to my grave, that I might go down in peace, and my immortal spirit may join the choirs above in singing the praises of a just God.	6 And he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his judgment-seat. 7 And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end.

¹ M. Seidel, “Parallels between Isaiah and Psalms,” Sinai 38 (1955—1956) 149–172, 272–280, 335–355.
² Donald Parry, Preserved in Translation: Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2020), 89.
³ This example was pointed out in Pancratius C. Beentjes, “Inverted Quotations in the Bible: A Neglected Stylistic Pattern,” Biblica 63, no. 4 (1982): 510–511.
⁴ Beentjes, “Inverted Quotations in the Bible,” 512.
⁵ Beentjes, “Inverted Quotations in the Bible,” 515–518.
⁶ See Beentjes, “Inverted Quotations in the Bible,” 515–518.
⁷ The Septuagint is the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, which was regularly used by New Testament authors and early Christians. See Melvin K. H. Peters, “Septuagint,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 vols., ed. David Noel Freeman (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1992), 5:1093–1104.
⁸ Translation of the LXX passage follows Beentjes, “Inverted Quotations in the Bible,” 517.
⁹ Examples of proposed inverted quotations in the Book of Mormon, as well as discussions of Seidel’s Law, can be found in at least the following publications: Parry, Preserved in Translation, 89–92; John W. Welch, “Introductory Pages of the Book of Mormon,” in John W. Welch Notes, 1–14 (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2020); Matthew L. Bowen, “‘And the Meek Also Shall Increase’: The Verb YASAP in Isaiah 29 and Nephi’s Prophetic Allusions to the Name Joseph in 2 Nephi 25–30,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 30 (2018): 18, 30–31; John W. Welch, “Worthy of Another Look: Reusages of the Words of Christ,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22, no. 1 (2013): 65–67, 72; John Hilton III, “Old Testament Psalms in the Book of Mormon,” in Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament (2013 Sperry Symposium), ed. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Matthew J. Grey, and David Rolph Seely (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013), 300, 310.n30; John W. Welch, “Echoes from the Sermon on the Mount,” in The Sermon on the Mount in Latter-day Scripture, ed. Gaye Strathearn, Thomas A. Wayment, and Daniel L. Belnap (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 314–321, 340; David E. Bokovoy and John A. Tvedtnes, “Seidel’s Law,” in Testaments: Links between the Book of Mormon and the Hebrew Bible (Toelle, UT: Heritage Press, 2003), 56–60; David Bokovoy, “Inverted Quotations in the Book of Mormon,” Insights 20, no. 10 (2000): 2.
¹⁰ Example identified in Parry, Preserved in Translation, 90.
¹¹ See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91. A similar example of this same quotation being inverted can be seen in Mosiah 15:14–15 (presented in Appendix 1).
¹² Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91.
¹³ See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91. Although Moroni used the phrase “enlarge thy borders” rather than “enlarge the place of thy tent,” he provides a meaningful interpretation of the tent analogy given by Isaiah (i.e., enlarging one’s tent is a metaphor for enlarging the geographical borders of Zion).
¹⁴ This assessment is based on a word search using WordCruncher.
¹⁵ See Thomas A. Wayment, “The Hebrew Text of Alma 7:11,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14, no. 1 (2005): 98–103, 130; Book of Mormon Central, “Whose ‘Word’ Was Fulfilled by Christ’s Suffering ‘Pains and Sicknesses’? (Alma 7:11),” KnoWhy 564 (June 2, 2020).
¹⁶ See 1 Nephi 5:18; 11:36; 14:11; 19:17; 22:28; 2 Nephi 26:13; 30:8; Mosiah 15:28; 16:1; 27:5; Alma 9:20; 37:4; 45:16.
¹⁷ See John W. Welch, “Echoes from the Sermon on the Mount,” in The Sermon on the Mount in Latter-day Scripture, ed. Gaye Strathearn, Thomas A. Wayment, and Daniel L. Belnap (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010), 316–317.
¹⁸ See Welch, “Echoes from the Sermon on the Mount,” 318.
¹⁹ See John W. Welch, “Introductory Pages of the Book of Mormon,” in John W. Welch Notes, 1–14 (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2020): “Reversing the order of a previous statement in this fashion was an ancient scribal practice often used to signal to the reader that the writer was intentionally quoting from or alluding back to that earlier text. Thus, the similarities between the Title Page and Mosiah 28:17 do not appear to be accidental. Such intertextual connections … demonstrate that the wording of the Title Page itself deserves to be studied and admired.” Note that Moroni provides a similar inversion in Ether 1:33. It is difficult to say for sure whether Moroni is inverting Mormon’s prior text or if Mormon himself was modeling his statements on a Jaredite text which Moroni then reversed.
²⁰ See Beentjes, “Inverted Quotations in the Bible,” 522.
²¹ Beentjes, “Inverted Quotations in the Bible,” 522–523.
²² See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Benjamin’s Speech (Literary Influence),” ID# 0374, October 10, 2022, online at evidencecentral.org.
²³ It must be understood that quotations and allusions to Benjamin’s speech manifest frequent random clustering of elements, sometimes with 5 or more parallel elements scattered over multiple verses in various sequences. However, many of these shared elements are only allusive in nature. Ony a smaller subset involve verbatim or near-verbatim quotations. And when it comes to these more precise verbal matches, the wording infrequently shows up in an inverted manner. Much more often, elements involving precise linguistic parallels show up in the same order in which they were given by Benjamin. His speech provides a particularly valuable basis for analysis because he is quoted or alluded to so many times by a variety of later authors. See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Benjamin’s Speech (Literary Influence),” ID# 0374, October 10, 2022, online at evidencecentral.org.
²⁴ Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91.
²⁵ See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91. A similar example can be seen in Mosiah 15:14–15.
²⁶ See Book of Mormon Central, “Did Lehi Use the Poetry of the Ancient Bedouin? (1 Nephi 2:9–10),” KnoWhy 5 (January 6, 2016). The article explains, “The fact that Lehi inverts Isaiah’s order of commandments//righteousness to righteousness//commandments might indicate that Lehi was consciously alluding to this passage in Isaiah. This suggestion may be supported by the fact that this passage from Isaiah is quoted by Nephi toward the end of 1 Nephi, in 1 Nephi 20:18.”
²⁷ See Bokovoy and Tvedtnes, “Seidel’s Law,” 59: “During his sermon given to his son Jacob, Lehi discussed God’s creative acts recorded in the book of Genesis. Like Moses in the above passage [Deuteronomy 4:15–19], Lehi specifically reversed the order of creation in accordance with Seidel’s law.”
²⁸ See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 90.
²⁹ See Bowen, “‘And the Meek Also Shall Increase’,” 30–31: “Here in 2 Nephi 29:1, Nephi’s second Gezera Shawa on Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 occurs, and he cites these passages as an oracle from the Lord himself. In this instance the order of the two passages is reversed (another example of Seidel’s Law).”
³⁰ See Hilton III, “Old Testament Psalms in the Book of Mormon,” 310.n30: “It is interesting to consider why Jacob quoted the second half of Psalms 95:7–8 before the first half. One possibility is that it is a manifestation of Seidel’s law. … While Jacob’s inverted quotation of Psalm 95:7–8 does not match with the classical instance of Seidel’s Law (given that the inverted quotations are separated by a significant amount of text), it is possible that this reverse order was Jacob’s way of illustrating his intentionality in referencing these verses. Alternatively, Lyons demonstrates that allusions are sometimes marked ‘by the splitting and redistribution of elements in the borrowed locution’ (‘Marking Innerbiblical Allusion,’ 245). In either case Jacob could have been following conventions similar to Old Testament authors.”
³¹ See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91. A similar example can be seen in 1 Nephi 13:27.
³² See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 90. See also Bokovoy and Tvedtnes, “Seidel’s Law,” 57: “Alma’s question seems to convey a greater connection to Psalm 24 with an understanding of biblical Hebrew. In Hebrew, the preposition before literally means ‘to the face of.’ Alma was asking the people of the church if they would feel at ease before ‘the face of God’ and his heavenly tribunal. According to both Alma and the Psalmist only ‘he that hath clean hands and a pure heart … is the generation of them that seek [God] that seek thy face, O Jacob’ (Psalm 24:1–6). This example from the Book of Mormon of Seidel’s law demonstrates the way scriptures provide what scholars refer to as inner biblical exegesis.”
³³ See Book of Mormon Central, “Whose “Word” Was Fulfilled by Christ’s Suffering “Pains and Sicknesses”? (Alma 7:11),” KnoWhy 564 (June 2, 2020): “While it may not immediately appear that Alma’s word ‘pains and sicknesses’ are likely based on the King James version (KJV) of Isaiah 53:4, according to Wayment, ‘The version of [Isaiah 53:4] quoted by Alma is quite similar to the Hebrew text that has been passed down to us … but is unlike the English translation provided in the KJV. This is because, among the primary meanings of the Hebrew words translated in the KJV as (a) griefs (ḥolāyēnu) and (b) sorrows (mak’ōbenu) are (a) sicknesses and (b) pains, respectively. These understandings of the Hebrew words in Isaiah 53:4 make its relationship to Alma 7:11 clearer and more direct.” See also Thomas A. Wayment, “The Hebrew Text of Alma 7:11,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14, no. 1 (2005): 98–103, 130.
³⁴ See Book of Mormon Central, “Why Must There be an Infinite and Eternal Sacrifice? (Alma 34:12),” KnoWhy 142 (July 13, 2016): “Recognizing that birds were often given as ‘burnt offerings,’ Amulek seems to be reversing the order of Micah’s rhetorical questions, after which he launches into an exposition of justice and mercy (Alma 34:15–16). Amulek, therefore, seems to be employing a technique called Seidel’s Law to invoke Micah’s words and remind his Zoramite audience of the true purpose of animal sacrifice under the Mosaic law.” This proposed allusion is strengthened by the way that the concepts of justice and mercy are invoked soon afterward in each text, which also have an inverse relationship. See the next example (Micah 6:8 / Alma 34:15).
³⁵ While this reversal isn’t particularly strong on its own, its plausible intentionality is increased by the proposed instance of Seidel’s Law from just a few verses earlier. See the previous example (Micah 6:6–7 / Alma 34:10).
³⁶ See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91.
³⁷ See Parry, Preserved in Translation, 91.
³⁸ See John W. Welch, “Introductory Pages of the Book of Mormon,” in John W. Welch Notes, 1–14 (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2020): “Reversing the order of a previous statement in this fashion was an ancient scribal practice often used to signal to the reader that the writer was intentionally quoting from or alluding back to that earlier text. Thus, the similarities between the Title Page and Mosiah 28:17 do not appear to be accidental. Such intertextual connections … demonstrate that the wording of the Title Page itself deserves to be studied and admired.”
³⁹ See Bowen, “‘And the Meek Also Shall Increase’,” 18: “Nephi repeats Joseph’s prophecy extensively throughout 2 Nephi 25–30, Nephi’s quotation of 2 Nephi 3:14–16 in 2 Nephi 25:21 constituting another example of Seidel’s law.”
⁴⁰ There can be little doubt that Mormon was intentionally alluding to Samuel’s earlier prophecies when recording the destruction of the Nephites. See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Internally Fulfilled Prophecies,” September 19, 2020 (updated February 15, 2023), online at evidencecentral.org.
⁴¹ See Welch, “Echoes from the Sermon on the Mount,” 316–317.
⁴² See Welch, “Echoes from the Sermon on the Mount,” 318.

Literary Features

Evidence #440 | March 13, 2024

Inverted Quotations