Synonymous Words

Synonyms are words that have the same or a similar meaning, such as happy and glad. A separate evidence summary discusses synonymous parallelisms, which feature synonymous lines of text.¹ This summary deals strictly with the repetition of synonymous words. As explained by Hebrew scholar Donald W. Parry, this is achieved when “a group of three or more words, similar in sense but not identical in meaning, come together in a verse or passage with characteristics that parallel one another.”² As an example, Parry points to this passage from Exodus 1:7 that features four words that all signify an increase:

And the children of Israel were fruitful,

and increased abundantly,

and multiplied,

and waxed exceeding mighty

A more extensive example can be seen in Zephaniah 1:15–16:

That day is a day of wrath,

a day of trouble

and distress,

a day of wasteness

and desolation,

a day of darkness

and gloominess,

a day of clouds

and thick darkness,

A day of the trumpet

and alarm

The repetition of synonymous words is also present throughout the Book of Mormon, as can be seen in this passage from 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

Here is another example from Alma 63:2:

And he was a just man,

and he did walk uprightly before God;

and he did observe to do good continually,

to keep the commandments of the Lord his God

Conclusion

The repetition of synonyms isn’t a uniquely ancient literary feature. It certainly can be found in the literature of Joseph Smith’s day. Nevertheless, the frequent presence of synonymous words in the Book of Mormon adds another layer of consistency with the text’s claimed Hebrew literary origins (see Appendix).

Carl J. Cranney, “The Deliberate Use of Hebrew Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 23, no. 1 (2014): 140–165.

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

Donald W. Parry, “Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities in the Book of Mormon,” in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2002), 155–189.

Hugh J. Pinnock, Finding Biblical Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999).

1 Nephi 10:14

1 Nephi 18:25

1 Nephi 19:11

1 Nephi 20:20

1 Nephi 21:26

1 Nephi 22:24

1 Nephi 22:28

2 Nephi 5:15

2 Nephi 6:2

2 Nephi 6:3

2 Nephi 6:15

2 Nephi 6:18

2 Nephi 7:2

2 Nephi 9:18

2 Nephi 9:21

2 Nephi 9:26

2 Nephi 13:2–3

2 Nephi 13:18–23

2 Nephi 15:12

2 Nephi 17:17

2 Nephi 18:15

2 Nephi 19:6

2 Nephi 21:2

2 Nephi 21:8

2 Nephi 21:11

2 Nephi 25:26

2 Nephi 27:2

2 Nephi 28:14

2 Nephi 29:11

2 Nephi 30:8

2 Nephi 30:12–14

2 Nephi 32:7

Jacob 1:13

Jacob 6:8

Enos 1:21

Jarom 1:3

Jarom 1:8

Omni 1:25

Mosiah 3:5

Mosiah 3:7

Mosiah 3:8

Mosiah 4:4

Mosiah 4:6

Mosiah 5:7

Mosiah 5:15

Mosiah 9:9

Mosiah 9:16

Mosiah 10:8

Mosiah 11:3

Mosiah 11:8

Mosiah 15:5

Mosiah 29:36

Alma 1:29

Alma 1:30

Alma 1:32

Alma 2:12

Alma 4:6

Alma 4:9

Alma 4:12

Alma 5:49

Alma 5:50

Alma 7:22–24

Alma 7:27

Alma 9:21

Alma 9:26

Alma 10:11

Alma 11:44

Alma 12:6

Alma 13:17

Alma 13:27–28

Alma 13:29

Alma 14:18

Alma 16:18

Alma 17:7

Alma 23:2

Alma 23:9–12

Alma 26:29

Alma 26:35

Alma 26:36

Alma 29:1–2

Alma 30:28

Alma 31:28

Alma 37:21

Alma 37:23

Alma 37:27

Alma 38:3

Alma 40:12

Alma 43:20

Alma 43:44

Alma 43:45

Alma 43:47

Alma 44:5

Alma 47:36

Alma 48:10

Alma 48:11–13

Alma 50:21

Alma 51:26

Alma 62:39–40

Alma 63:2

Helaman 1:14

Helaman 3:9

Helaman 3:16

Helaman 4:12

Helaman 6:30

Helaman 7:21

Helaman 8:20

Helaman 9:21

Helaman 10:5

Helaman 12:2

Helaman 12:3

Helaman 12:4

Helaman 13:22

Helaman 14:12

3 Nephi 3:13

3 Nephi 3:22

3 Nephi 4:1

3 Nephi 6:1

3 Nephi 6:14

3 Nephi 8:12

3 Nephi 8:17

3 Nephi 8:19

3 Nephi 8:21–22

3 Nephi 10:14

3 Nephi 16:9

3 Nephi 16:10

3 Nephi 17:6–7

3 Nephi 17:9

3 Nephi 21:19

3 Nephi 22:5

3 Nephi 24:5

3 Nephi 26:15

3 Nephi 29:6

3 Nephi 30:2

4 Nephi 1:5

4 Nephi 1:16–17

Mormon 1:8–9

Mormon 5:14

Mormon 6:9

Mormon 8:31

Mormon 8:36

Mormon 8:39

Mormon 9:7

Ether 8:16

Ether 9:17–19

Ether 10:12

Ether 10:25

Moroni 6:9

Moroni 8:8