Evidence# 455 | July 17, 2024
Book of Mormon Evidence: Repeated Possessive Pronouns
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Scripture Central
Abstract
The Book of Mormon features many lists in which the same possessive pronoun is repeated before each item in the list. This grammatical feature helps support the Book of Mormon as a Hebrew-influenced text.Evidence Summary
In modern English, it is common to only insert a single possessive pronoun that applies to each item in a list. For instance, a teacher might tell a class of students, “Please get out your paper, pencil, book, and folder.” Hebrew grammar works a bit differently, though. According to John A. Tvedtnes,
In Hebrew, pronouns used for possession and direct object are ordinarily attached as suffixes to the noun (in case of possession) and verb (in case of direct object). In instances of possession, therefore, one cannot say “his house and family and friends, etc.,” but rather, one is obliged to say “his house and his family, and his friends,” attaching the pronominal suffix “his” to each noun.1
This grammatical form—where the same pronoun is repeated before each item in a list—is found throughout the English translation of the King James Bible. For example, in Genesis 36:6 we read, “And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance” (Genesis 36:6). Many similar biblical lists could be cited.2
Possessive Pronouns in the Book of Mormon
Repeated possessive pronouns are also found throughout the Book of Mormon. Some examples are simple, as seen in 1 Nephi 22:11: “Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel.” A passage with more repetition is found in 1 Nephi 2:4: “And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things.” An even longer instance turns up in Helaman 3:14:
But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders
Mormon’s exhortations in 3 Nephi 30:2 offers a similar degree of repetition:
Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations
Conclusion
It should be clarified that not every list in the Book of Mormon repeats the possessive pronoun for every item.3 Furthermore, because this feature was abundantly preserved in the English phrasing of the King James Bible, it means that it could possibly have been imitated by Joseph Smith. Thus, too much shouldn’t be made of this singular line of grammatical evidence.
That being said, the frequency of these types of lists in the Book of Mormon is not insignificant. In total, the possessive pronoun is repeated on more than 280 occasions. In more than 70 of these instances, the pronoun is repeated three or more times in short succession (see Appendix). Thus, if Joseph Smith was simply imitating the Bible, he did so to an impressive degree. One might also consider that, unlike most other authors in his day, Smith orally dictated the Book of Mormon in a single take in a fast-paced translation. He therefore didn’t have the luxury of revising and editing his text to make it sound more biblical.4
In the bigger picture, this is just one of many Hebrew-like features found in the Book of Mormon.5 When viewed collectively, they provide substantial evidence of the Book of Mormon’s Hebrew origins.6
Further Reading
Donald W. 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), 119–122.
Donald W. Parry, “Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon,” in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, ed. Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2002), 155–189.
John A. Tvedtnes, “Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A Preliminary Survey,” BYU Studies 11, no. 1 (Autumn 1970): 50–58.
Appendix
The following chart contains 287 instances in the Book of Mormon when possessive pronouns are repeated in lists. On 78 occasions, the pronoun is repeated three or more times (indicated by an *). The basic criterion for inclusion was if the additional pronoun(s) could be removed without altering the meaning of the statement. This also applies to situations where the pronoun is part of an identical (or nearly identical) phrase, as follows: “even until they had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all their lands” (Helaman 4:16). In this example, the pronoun “their” part of a repeated phrase that could be omitted: “even until they had regained the one-half of their property and lands.”
Repeated Possessive Pronouns in the Book of Mormon | |
1 Nephi 1:19* | for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations |
1 Nephi 2:4 | And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things |
1 Nephi 3:22* | and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things. |
1 Nephi 3:24* | for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things. |
1 Nephi 7:6 | yea, against me, Nephi, and Sam, and their father, Ishmael, and his wife, and his three other daughters. |
1 Nephi 10:1 | I must speak somewhat of the things of my father, and also of my brethren. |
1 Nephi 10:14 | come to the knowledge of the true Messiah, their Lord and their Redeemer. |
1 Nephi 13:36 | And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation. |
1 Nephi 15:15 | And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? |
1 Nephi 16:14 | And it came to pass that we did take our bows and our arrows, and go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families |
1 Nephi 16:15* | And it came to pass that we did travel for the space of many days, slaying food by the way, with our bows and our arrows and our stones and our slings. |
1 Nephi 16:37* | and also our brother Nephi, who has taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher |
1 Nephi 17:30* | And notwithstanding they being led, the Lord their God, their Redeemer, going before them |
1 Nephi 18:6 | we did go down into the ship, with all our loading and our seeds |
1 Nephi 18:6 | wherefore, we did all go down into the ship, with our wives and our children. |
1 Nephi 19:9 | Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men. |
1 Nephi 22:12 | and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. |
2 Nephi 1:10 | if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God |
2 Nephi 4:3 | he called the children of Laman, his sons, and his daughters |
2 Nephi 4:3 | Behold, my sons, and daughters, |
2 Nephi 4:5 | But behold, my sons and my daughters, I cannot go down to my grave save I should leave a blessing upon you |
2 Nephi 4:9 | Behold, my sons and my daughters, who are the sons and the daughters of my second son |
2 Nephi 5:19 | I should be their ruler and their teacher. |
2 Nephi 9:14* | Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness |
2 Nephi 9:14 | and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness |
2 Nephi 9:42* | and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches |
2 Nephi 11:5 | yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death. |
2 Nephi 25:23 | For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren |
2 Nephi 26:1 | And after Christ shall have risen from the dead he shall show himself unto you, my children, and my beloved brethren |
2 Nephi 26:3 | And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection |
2 Nephi 26:10 | nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, |
2 Nephi 29:14 | And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people |
2 Nephi 31:13 | yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water |
2 Nephi 31:17 | Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do |
Jacob 2:7 | And also it grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, |
Jacob 3:7 | but many of their proceedings are written upon the larger plates, and their wars, and their contentions, and the reigns of their kings. |
Jacob 4:2 | but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren |
Jacob 4:3 | hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts |
Jacob 4:7 | Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men |
Jacob 7:25 | Wherefore, the people of Nephi did fortify against them with their arms, and with all their might |
Jarom 1:7 | But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord |
Mosiah 2:5* | they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest |
Mosiah 2:5 | they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest |
Mosiah 2:29 | I might declare unto you that I can no longer be your teacher, nor your king |
Mosiah 4:4* | My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, |
Mosiah 4:6* | I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men |
Mosiah 4:30 | But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words |
Mosiah 5:7 | And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters |
Mosiah 5:7 | 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. |
Mosiah 6:6 | And it came to pass that king Mosiah did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe his judgments and his statutes |
Mosiah 7:22 | to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even all our grain of every kind |
Mosiah 7:22 | and one half of the increase of our flocks and our herds |
Mosiah 9:2 | to relate that tale to their wives and their children. |
Mosiah 10:2 | and thus I did guard my people and my flocks |
Mosiah 10:18 | For this very cause has king Laman, by his cunning, and lying craftiness, and his fair promises, deceived me |
Mosiah 11:3* | And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron; and a fifth part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain. |
Mosiah 11:4* | And all this did he take to support himself, and his wives and his concubines; and also his priests |
Mosiah 11:4 | and their wives and their concubines |
Mosiah 11:11 | and he caused a breastwork to be built before them, that they might rest their bodies and their arms upon |
Mosiah 11:20* | Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms |
Mosiah 15:9 | having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions |
Mosiah 18:29 | imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants. |
Mosiah 18:34 | therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the wilderness |
Mosiah 19:9 | and they did flee into the wilderness, with their women and their children. |
Mosiah 19:11 | Now it came to pass that the king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives and their children |
Mosiah 19:12 | And the rest left their wives and their children and fled. |
Mosiah 19:13 | And it came to pass that those who tarried with their wives and their children |
Mosiah 19:15* | and deliver up their property, even one half of all they possessed, one half of their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things |
Mosiah 19:19 | Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if their wives and their children were slain |
Mosiah 19:22 | And the men of Gideon told them of all that had happened to their wives and their children |
Mosiah 19:24 | they returned to the land of Nephi, rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain |
Mosiah 20:3 | therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children. |
Mosiah 20:11* | But they fought for their lives, and for their wives, and for their children |
Mosiah 21:18 | Now the people of Limhi kept together in a body as much as it was possible, and secured their grain and their flocks |
Mosiah 22:2* | except it were to take their women and children, and their flocks, and their herds, and their tents, and depart into the wilderness |
Mosiah 22:8* | Thus we will depart with our women and our children, our flocks, and our herds into the wilderness |
Mosiah 22:11 | And it came to pass that the people of king Limhi did depart by night into the wilderness with their flocks and their herds |
Mosiah 22:12 | And they had taken all their gold, and silver, and their precious things, which they could carry |
Mosiah 23:14 | And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister |
Mosiah 23:17 | Therefore he consecrated all their priests and all their teachers |
Mosiah 23:21 | yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. |
Mosiah 23:28 | that they would spare them, and their wives, and their children. |
Mosiah 23:36 | they would grant unto them their lives and their liberty |
Mosiah 24:16 | And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again |
Mosiah 24:22 | And they gave thanks to God, yea, all their men and all their women and all their children |
Mosiah 25:21 | every church having their priests and their teachers |
Mosiah 29:2 | We are desirous that Aaron thy son should be our king and our ruler. |
Mosiah 29:18 | Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations |
Alma 2:21 | And Alma sent spies to follow the remnant of the Amlicites, that he might know of their plans and their plots |
Alma 2:25* | And they are upon our brethren in that land; and they are fleeing before them with their flocks, and their wives, and their children |
Alma 2:25* | and except we make haste they obtain possession of our city, and our fathers, and our wives, and our children be slain. |
Alma 3:1* | they all returned to their lands, and to their houses, and their wives, and their children. |
Alma 3:2 | Now many women and children had been slain with the sword, and also many of their flocks and their herds |
Alma 3:5* | and they were naked, save it were skin which was girded about their loins, and also their armor, which was girded about them, and their bows, and their arrows, and their stones, and their slings, and so forth. |
Alma 3:6 | which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren |
Alma 4:3 | and they believed that it was the judgments of God sent upon them because of their wickedness and their abominations |
Alma 4:6* | the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver |
Alma 7:27 | and all that you possess, your women and your children, |
Alma 8:7* | Now it was the custom of the people of Nephi to call their lands, and their cities, and their villages, yea, even all their small villages, after the name of him who first possessed them |
Alma 9:11 | Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy |
Alma 9:20 | according to their desires, and their faith, and prayers |
Alma 10:5 | I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power |
Alma 10:11* | he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk |
Alma 10:27 | the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges |
Alma 10:29 | And again, he has reviled against our lawyers, and our judges. |
Alma 11:4 | Now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver, according to their value. |
Alma 12:15* | But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, |
Alma 12:30 | and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works. |
Alma 13:10 | and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God |
Alma 14:2 | and they also said that Amulek had lied unto them, and had reviled against their law and also against their lawyers and judges. |
Alma 14:23 | many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the prison |
Alma 15:16 | And it came to pass that Alma and Amulek, Amulek having forsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things |
Alma 16:13* | And Alma and Amulek went forth preaching repentance to the people in their temples, and in their sanctuaries, and also in their synagogues |
Alma 17:7* | Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and their slings |
Alma 18:10 | Now when king Lamoni heard that Ammon was preparing his horses and his chariots he was more astonished |
Alma 18:43 | and his wife, and his sons, and his daughters mourned over him |
Alma 19:14 | or among all the people of God because of their iniquities and their traditions |
Alma 20:6 | Now when Lamoni had heard this he caused that his servants should make ready his horses and his chariots. |
Alma 20:9 | Why did ye not come to the feast on that great day when I made a feast unto my sons, and unto my people? |
Alma 20:13 | and now his children are also come amongst us that they may, by their cunning and their lyings, deceive us |
Alma 22:33* | and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south |
Alma 23:2 | but that they should have free access to their houses, and also their temples, and their sanctuaries. |
Alma 23:14 | wheresoever they dwelt, yea, and all their villages and all their cities |
Alma 25:14 | and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes. |
Alma 26:16 | Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? |
Alma 26:29 | and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills |
Alma 26:29 | and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them |
Alma 26:36* | for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. |
Alma 26:37 | Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving |
Alma 27:23 | on account of their many murders and their awful wickedness. |
Alma 30:28* | and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries |
Alma 31:28* | Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with |
Alma 32:1 | entering into their synagogues, and into their houses |
Alma 32:42 | And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it |
Alma 32:43 | Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence |
Alma 34:26* | ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. |
Alma 35:5* | Now their rulers and their priests and their teachers did not let the people know concerning their desires |
Alma 35:14 | and they have taken up arms to defend themselves, and their wives, and children, and their lands |
Alma 36:3* | whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. |
Alma 37:21* | yea, all their murders, and robbings, and their plunderings, and all their wickedness and abominations |
Alma 37:23* | yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations. |
Alma 37:25* | I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations |
Alma 37:27* | And now, my son, I command you that ye retain all their oaths, and their covenants, and their agreements in their secret abominations |
Alma 37:27 | yea, and all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people |
Alma 37:29 | Therefore ye shall keep these secret plans of their oaths and their covenants from this people, |
Alma 37:29* | and only their wickedness and their murders and their abominations shall ye make known unto them |
Alma 38:2 | And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God |
Alma 38:5* | ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions |
Alma 38:11 | see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength. |
Alma 40:26 | and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works |
Alma 42:30 | but do you let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart |
Alma 43:9* | And now the design of the Nephites was to support their lands, and their houses, and their wives, and their children |
Alma 43:20* | they had only their swords and their cimeters, their bows and their arrows, their stones and their slings |
Alma 43:26* | to defend their lands and their country, their rights and their liberties |
Alma 43:30* | And he also knowing that it was the only desire of the Nephites to preserve their lands, and their liberty, and their church |
Alma 43:37 | for their nakedness was exposed to the heavy blows of the Nephites with their swords and their cimeters |
Alma 43:38* | or the more vital parts of the body being shielded from the strokes of the Lamanites, by their breastplates, and their armshields, and their head-plates |
Alma 43:45* | but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church. |
Alma 43:47* | to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion. |
Alma 43:48* | yea, the thoughts of their lands, their liberty, yea, their freedom from bondage. |
Alma 43:49* | for their liberty and their freedom from bondage |
Alma 44:8* | he came forth and delivered up his sword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni |
Alma 44:17 | yea, and the Lamanites did contend with their swords and their might. |
Alma 44:23 | And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned and came to their houses and their lands. |
Alma 46:13* | And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields |
Alma 46:20 | that they will maintain their rights, and their religion |
Alma 47:19 | Now, when Lehonti was dead, the Lamanites appointed Amalickiah to be their leader and their chief commander. |
Alma 48:10* | And thus he was preparing to support their liberty, their lands, their wives, and their children, and their peace |
Alma 48:11 | a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery |
Alma 48:13* | and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion |
Alma 48:24 | Nevertheless, they could not suffer to lay down their lives, that their wives and their children should be massacred |
Alma 49:4 | which was so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them |
Alma 49:24* | but they were shielded by their shields, and their breastplates, and their head-plates |
Alma 50:5 | And they were prepared that they could cast stones from the top thereof, according to their pleasure and their strength |
Alma 50:10 | and caused them to erect fortifications that they might secure their armies and their people |
Alma 50:21* | for it has been their quarrelings and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plunderings, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations, which were among themselves |
Alma 50:21 | which brought upon them their wars and their destructions. |
Alma 50:35 | and so stubborn were the people of Morianton, (being inspired by his wickedness and his flattering words) |
Alma 51:17 | to pull down their pride and their nobility and level them with the earth |
Alma 51:18 | and they did pull down their pride and their nobility |
Alma 51:31 | for every man of Teancum did exceed the Lamanites in their strength and in their skill of war |
Alma 53:7 | yea, and also delivering their women and their children from famine and affliction |
Alma 54:11 | save it be on conditions that ye will deliver up a man and his wife and his children, for one prisoner |
Alma 54:12 | yea, even I will arm my women and my children |
Alma 55:17 | Yea, even to their women, and all those of their children, as many as were able to use a weapon of war |
Alma 55:28 | And it came to pass that the Nephites began again to be victorious, and to reclaim their rights and their privileges. |
Alma 56:4 | Now I need not rehearse unto you concerning their traditions or their unbelief |
Alma 56:11 | they have died in the cause of their country and of their God |
Alma 56:28 | And thus we were prepared with ten thousand men, and provisions for them, and also for their wives and their children. |
Alma 58:6 | nevertheless we could not come to battle with them, because of their retreats and their strongholds. |
Alma 58:40 | yea, they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually |
Alma 60:10 | yea, for known unto God were all their cries, and all their sufferings |
Alma 60:26 | And this because of their exceeding faith, and their patience in their tribulations |
Alma 60:28 | Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority |
Alma 60:29 | except ye do bestir yourselves in the defence of your country and your little ones |
Alma 60:34 | I would that ye should adhere to the word of God, and send speedily unto me of your provisions and of your men |
Alma 61:6 | and behold, they are flocking to us daily, to their arms, in the defence of their country and their freedom |
Alma 62:2 | in fine because of those who had rebelled against their country and also their God. |
Alma 62:15 | they took a large body of men of the Lamanites, and slew many of them, and took their provisions and their weapons of war. |
Alma 62:47 | And their judges, and their chief judges were chosen. |
Alma 62:49* | But notwithstanding their riches, or their strength, or their prosperity, they were not lifted up in the pride of their eyes |
Alma 63:4 | there was a large company of men, even to the amount of five thousand and four hundred men, with their wives and their children |
Helaman 1 (heading) | Their wars and contentions, and their dissensions |
Helaman 1:16 | with his strength and also with his great wisdom |
Helaman 2:8 | and this was their secret plan, and their combination |
Helaman 3:9* | that in time they might have timber to build their houses, yea, their cities, and their temples, and their synagogues, and their sanctuaries |
Helaman 3:14* | But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms, cannot be contained in this work. |
Helaman 4:11 | would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them |
Helaman 4:16 | even until they had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all their lands. |
Helaman 5:2 | For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people |
Helaman 6:1 | insomuch that their righteousness did exceed that of the Nephites, because of their firmness and their steadiness in the faith. |
Helaman 6:21 | insomuch that they did unite with those bands of robbers, and did enter into their covenants and their oaths |
Helaman 6:21* | that they should not suffer for their murders, and their plunderings, and their stealings. |
Helaman 6:22* | And it came to pass that they did have their signs, yea, their secret signs, and their secret words |
Helaman 6:24 | And whosoever of those who belonged to their band should reveal unto the world of their wickedness and their abominations |
Helaman 6:30* | and doth hand down their plots, and their oaths, and their covenants, and their plans of awful wickedness |
Helaman 6:31 | and did turn unto their own ways, and did build up unto themselves idols of their gold and their silver. |
Helaman 8:26 | Yea, even at this time ye are ripening, because of your murders and your fornication and wickedness |
Helaman 10:3* | because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities |
Helaman 11:8 | And the people began to plead with their chief judges and their leaders |
Helaman 11:33 | and more especially their women and their children. |
Helaman 11:37 | they did wax stronger and stronger in their pride, and in their wickedness |
Helaman 12:2* | Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds |
Helaman 13:17 | because of their wickedness and their abominations. |
Helaman 13:28 | ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver |
Helaman 15:5* | and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments according to the law of Moses. |
Helaman 15:13 | which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd |
Helaman 16:6 | therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains |
Helaman 16:6 | and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows |
Helaman 16:15 | and began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom |
3 Nephi 1:6 | therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing hath been vain. |
3 Nephi 1:18 | and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief. |
3 Nephi 1:27 | for so strong were their holds and their secret places that the people could not overpower them |
3 Nephi 1:29 | and were led away by some who were Zoramites, by their lyings and their flattering words, to join those Gadianton robbers. |
3 Nephi 3:2* | in the defence of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or that which ye do call so. |
3 Nephi 3:6* | Therefore I write unto you, desiring that ye would yield up unto this my people, your cities, your lands, and your possessions |
3 Nephi 3:10 | and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your possessions |
3 Nephi 3:13* | Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance |
3 Nephi 3:22* | and they had taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance |
3 Nephi 4:1 | and out of the mountains, and the wilderness, and their strongholds, and their secret places |
3 Nephi 4:3 | for the Nephites had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their herds and all their substance |
3 Nephi 4:33 | and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction. |
3 Nephi 5:3* | Therefore they did forsake all their sins, and their abominations, and their whoredoms |
3 Nephi 5:20 | I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ |
3 Nephi 6:1* | with his family, his flocks and his herds, his horses and his cattle, and all things whatsoever did belong unto them. |
3 Nephi 6:2* | of all their grain of every kind, and their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things |
3 Nephi 7:14 | but they were not united as to their laws, and their manner of government |
3 Nephi 7:14 | for they were established according to the minds of those who were their chiefs and their leaders |
3 Nephi 7:22 | And as many as had devils cast out from them, and were healed of their sicknesses and their infirmities |
3 Nephi 9:5 | to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face |
3 Nephi 9:9 | have I caused to be burned with fire because of their sins and their wickedness |
3 Nephi 9:10 | and stoning those whom I did send to declare unto them concerning their wickedness and their abominations |
3 Nephi 9:12 | and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations. |
3 Nephi 9:19 | yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away |
3 Nephi 9:19 | for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. |
3 Nephi 11:14 | and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet |
3 Nephi 11:15 | and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet |
3 Nephi 17:9* | all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb |
3 Nephi 18:21 | Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed. |
3 Nephi 18:32 | Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship |
3 Nephi 19:1 | and every man did take his wife and his children and did return to his own home. |
3 Nephi 19:18 | And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God. |
3 Nephi 26:15 | and had gone unto the Father, after having healed all their sick, and their lame |
3 Nephi 30:2* | and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations |
4 Nephi 1:12 | they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God |
4 Nephi 1:25 | And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them. |
4 Nephi 1:29 | because of their humility and their belief in Christ |
Mormon 2:12* | I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord |
Mormon 2:23* | that they would stand boldly before the Lamanites and fight for their wives, and their children, and their houses, and their homes. |
Mormon 2:27 | And my heart did sorrow because of this the great calamity of my people, because of their wickedness and their abominations. |
Mormon 3:1 | And behold, I had employed my people, the Nephites, in preparing their lands and their arms against the time of battle. |
Mormon 4:15 | the Nephites being angry because the Lamanites had sacrificed their women and their children |
Mormon 4:21 | the Nephites were driven and slaughtered with an exceedingly great slaughter; their women and their children were again sacrificed unto idols. |
Mormon 6:7 | And it came to pass that my people, with their wives and their children |
Mormon 8:37 | For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel |
Mormon 8:40 | and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads? |
Ether 1:37 | and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also |
Ether 3:14 | and they shall become my sons and my daughters. |
Ether 9:2 | and also to his sons and to his daughters who did not seek his destruction. |
Ether 9:3* | and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household |
Ether 14:1 | if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf |
Ether 15:2 | yea, there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children. |
Ether 15:15 | And it came to pass that when they were all gathered together, every one to the army which he would, with their wives and their children |
Ether 15:17 | and when the night came again they did rend the air with their cries, and their howlings, and their mournings, for the loss of the slain of their people. |
Ether 15:24 | and they contended in their might with their swords and with their shields, all that day. |
Moroni 8:2 | and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work. |
Moroni 8:8* | Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. |
Endnotes
- 1. John A. Tvedtnes, “Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A Preliminary Survey,” BYU Studies 11, no. 1 (Autumn 1970): 50–58; bolds added.
- 2. For a preliminary survey, see Donald W. 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), 61–66 .
- 3. In some passages the possessive pronoun is used only once, while in others it is used multiple times but not for every item in the list. For a sampling of such instances, see 2 Nephi 11:5; 26:3; Mosiah 22:12; Alma 9:20; 12:15; 12:30; 13:10; 15:16; 37:21, 23; Helaman 6:38; 3 Nephi 7:16; Ether 14:2. If repeated pronouns are indeed a reflection of an underlying Hebrew-like text, these variations may indicate that the translation wasn’t always strictly literal in nature.
- 4. See Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: No Substantive Revisions,” Evidence# 255 (October 15, 2021); Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Rapid Translation,” Evidence# 13 (September 19, 2020).
- 5. See Parry, Preserved in Translation: Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in the Book of Mormon 119–122; Donald W. Parry, “Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon,” in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, ed. Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2002), 155–189; Tvedtnes, “Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A Preliminary Survey,” 50–58.
- 6. Some have assumed that because Book of Mormon texts were written in Egyptian scripts (1 Nephi 1:2; Mormon 9:32), then we shouldn’t expect to find Hebrew grammar or idioms preserved in its translation. However, we don’t know precisely what type of Egyptian the Nephites were using. Some scholars believe they may have been adapting Egyptian to write in Hebrew. Furthermore, it should be remembered that Hebrew was likely the primary or dominant language among the Nephites (see Mormon 9:32–33). This means that many texts may have been originally composed or recorded in Hebrew before they were transferred into Egyptian for long-term storage on metal plates. Since we can’t know precisely how a divinely revealed English translation might handle the various elements of these texts’ ancient composition, transmission, redaction, and translation, readers would do well to keep an open mind on this matter. For commentary on various facets of this issue, see Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, “Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5, no. 2 (1996): 156–163; John S. Thompson, “Lehi and Egypt,” in Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem, ed. John W. Welch, David Rolph Seely, and Jo Ann H. Seely (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2004), 266–268; Neal Rappleye, “Learning Nephi’s Language: Creating a Context for 1 Nephi 1:2,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 16 (2015): 151–159; Robert F. Smith, Egyptianisms in the Book of Mormon and Other Studies (Provo, UT: Deep Forest Green, 2020), 1–13. See also Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Egyptian Writing,” Evidence ID# 33 (September 19, 2020).