Parallelisms in Benjamin’s Speech

One interesting aspect of the Book of Mormon’s numerous parallel structures is that they tend to be especially concentrated in key doctrinal discourses.¹ One example of this can be seen in King Benjamin’s final words to his people. According to John W. Welch, “A stunning array of literary structures appears in Benjamin’s speech, purposefully and skillfully organized.”² As might be expected, chiasmus is featured regularly throughout.³ Yet Benjamin also utilized a diversity of other poetic forms characteristic of ancient Hebrew literature. These include at least the following:⁴

• Alternate (Simple, Repeated, and Extended)
• Antithetical
• Climax
• Detailing
• Gradation
• Like Sentence Beginnings and Endings
• Staircase (Down and Up)
• Synonymous (Simple and Extended)
• Synthetic (Simple and Extended)

Here are a several examples taken from different parts of the speech, each one labeled in parentheses:⁵

Mosiah 2:17–19 (Gradation):

And behold, I tell you these things

that ye may learn wisdom;

that ye may learn that when

ye are in the service of your fellow beings

ye are only in the service of your God. Behold,

ye have called me your king; and if I, whom

ye call your king, do

labor to serve you, then ought not ye to

labor to serve one another? And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his

days in your

service, and yet has been in the

service of God, do merit any

thanks from you, O how you ought to

thank your heavenly King!

Mosiah 2:31 (Extended Alternate):

Mosiah 3:18–19 (Chiasmus):

Mosiah 4:9–10 (Like Sentence Beginnings and Endings):

Believe in God;

believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth;

believe that 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. And again,

believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now,

if you believe all these things see that ye do them.

Mosiah 4:11–12 (Chiasmus/Simple Alternate):

Mosiah 4:30 (Progression):

But this much I can tell you,

that if ye do not watch yourselves,

and your thoughts,

and your words,

and your deeds,

and observe the commandments of God,

and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord,

even unto the end of your lives,

ye must perish.

Many more structures could be cited.⁶

Overall Chiastic Structure

In addition to these various individual parallelisms, Welch has proposed that King Benjamin organized his entire speech into a large chiasm with seven sections:

Each of these sections, in turn, appears to have their own internal chiastic structures:

In a lengthy analysis, Welch explains the chiastic pairings in each section, as well as the parallel features of the larger chiasm.⁷

Conclusion

As assessed by Welch,

[Benjamin’s] speech, given at the coronation of his son and as part of a high and holy convocation of his people, does not appear to have been delivered extemporaneously. It was well thought out and, before it was distributed by Benjamin in written form, his text appears to have been beautifully polished. In Mosiah 2–5, one finds some superb examples of high literary achievement.⁸

In several ways, these findings are at odds with the supposition that Joseph Smith fabricated the Book of Mormon. When he translated the text in 1829, he was only 23 years old and had limited education and literary background. One also has to consider the constraints of the translation itself, which featured a rapid dictation without the reliance on any notes or outlines.⁹ Thus, while the diverse array of poetic forms in Benjamin’s speech fits its claimed ancient context, it is difficult to ascribe their composition to Joseph Smith, who consistently claimed that he dictated the text by the gift and power of God.  

Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did King Benjamin Use Poetic Parallels So Extensively? (Mosiah 5:11),” KnoWhy 83 (April 21, 2016).

Donald W. Parry, Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text Reformatted (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2007), 157–173.

John W. Welch, “Parallelism and Chiasmus in Benjamin’s Speech,” in King Benjamin's Speech: “That Ye May Learn Wisdom,” ed. John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks (Provo, UT: FARMS 1998), 315–415.

Mosiah 2–5

Mosiah 2–5