Tag: Wordplay
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The meaning of Hagoth
Hagoth is an interesting Book of Mormon character, who is introduced in Alma 63 And it came to pass that Hagoth, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by…
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Lehi, Nephi and the shekinah — Part 1 (The divine presence)
Shekinah is an interesting Hebrew word that is difficult to translate directly into English. It denotes the divine presence of God. It is derived from the Hebrew root, shakan/shaken, meaning “to settle down, abide, dwell”. According to Encyclopaedia Judaica In classic Jewish thought, the shekhinah refers to a dwelling or settling in a special sense, a…
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Wordplay on the name Samuel in the Book of Mormon
A recent Interpreter paper by Matthew Bowen illustrates the apparent wordplay on the name Samuel. It is yet another great example of the subtleties waiting to be discovered in the Book of Mormon. As usual, Bowen goes into exquisite depth as he unfolds the various meanings and contexts associated with the name, both in the…
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Cain, קַיִן, and "getting gain"
As has been demonstrated many times in various ways, the writers of the Book of Mormon understood Hebrew. This post gives an overview of many examples. Today we\’ll discuss an additional example, which also lends credibility to the idea that the Book of Mormon writers had access to some form of the Book of Moses.,…
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Fallen — Part 2 (The Brother of Jared)
In part 1 I described the plan of salvation in terms of down and up movements. The fall and exaltation are key parts of the plan. But even though the fall was part of the plan and it is also normal to slip during the ascension on the covenant path, we must be careful not…
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"Word", "thing" and Christ — Part 4: The priesthood
I was not planning a fourth part of this series. But when I study a topic, I occasionally come across things that add a new dimension. This happened again. To recap briefly, the previous posts were based on the Hebrew root, \’dbr\’. It is both a verb and a noun and is associated with speaking…
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Moroni's wordplay — adorn/pass by
I noticed a clever example of Hebrew wordplay in Mormon 8, which we can add to a growing list of wordplay that makes more sense in Hebrew than in English. Here is the verse: 39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and…
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Wordplay in the Book of Mormon
This post will list the compelling examples of wordplay from the Book of Mormon. This is a topic of great interest to me. I believe it offers very strong evidence that the author of the Book of Mormon was well-versed in ancient languages and scribal traditions. I\’ll briefly summarize each item on the list, but…
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The word of God — Part 3
Part 1 and part 2 were written long ago. But I just had some further thoughts sparked by this week\’s Come Follow Me lesson. A more recent post also makes a case for Alma 32 being a personal creation account, and \”word\” is a keyword to make the connection. Alma talks a lot about the…
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An example of internal consistency (with an added layer of ironic wordplay) in the prophecies of Zenos
I noticed an intricate example of internal consistency and a new layer of ironic meaning tucked away in this verse: 11 For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and…