Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Note on Ugaritic bšr and "Gospel" in the Book of Mormon

I have addressed the question as to whether the term “gospel” or “glad/good tidings” is an anachronism in the Book of Mormon at:

Responding to William Whalen on Alleged Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon

I have added some additional information from the Ugaritic Tablets (1350-1150 BC), pre-dating the Book of Mormon, showing that such a concept was known even before the time of Lehi et al. On the Ugaritic cognate to the Hebrew term בְּשֹׂרָה, Cyrus Gordon wrote:

535. bšr II ‘to get tidings (good or evil)’ (76:III:34, 35); D ‘to bring tidings’ (1 Aqht 86); bšrt (76:III:34) ‘tidings’ ; (51:V:88) tbšr bcl (89) bšrtk.yblt ‘be informed, O Bacl, I bring thy tidings’. (Cyrus H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook [Analecta Orientalia 38; Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1965], 377)

Here are Gordon’s transliteration of the relevant texts:

51:V:88

[88] gh.wtṣḥ.tbšr bcl
[89] bšrtk.yblt.ybn (Ibid., 172)

76:III:34, 35

[34] bšrt.il. bš[r b]cl
[35] w bšr.ḥtk.dgn  (Ibid., 183)

1 Aqht 86

[86] abšrkm dn[     ] (Ibid., 245)


This is yet another nail in the coffin of the claim that “gospel” is an anachronistic word in the Book of Mormon.
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