Taken from
Robert F. Smith, Egyptianisms
in the Book of Mormon and Other Studies (Provo, Utah: Deep Forest Green
Books, 2020), 69
I prefer, with the late Hugh
Nibley, [343] to see this as a translation of a form of ancient Egyptian
ḫpr “become, come into existence; occur, happen, come to pass,”
specifically as narrative past ḫpr.n. Classical Egyptian texts use
various forms of ḫpr.n in this latter sense, [344] but it is far
more common in Late and Demotic Egyptian: (i-w3ḥ)
(i.)ir.s ḫpr or ḫpr.f “(and) it came to pass,” which is
well attested by its later Saˁidic Coptic 3rd feminine singular
tripartite-perfect form: (αΥο) αcωωΠε (Judges 14:11,17) or αcωωΠε Δε (with
the enclitic Greek particle, as in the Coptic version of Judges 14:15). [345]
The phrase systematically replaces the standard Hebrew and Greek expressions
throughout the Coptic versions of the Bible.
Notes to the
Above:
[343] Nibley, Since Cumorah (Deseret
Book, 1967), 169, citing Grapow, Das Hieroglyphensystem, 25 (= Collected
Works of Hugh Nibley VII:150); though the Hebrew equivalent would probably
have been kept in mind by a fluent Hebrew speaker.
[344] Sinuhe R
18, B 35,37,160; Shipwrecked Sailor 22,125,135; BH I, 8, 10-11; JEA
52, plate IX.
[345] W. Till, Koptische Grammatik (Leipzig:
Harrassowitz, 1955), §§313,421; cf. his "(und) es geschah" for
Luke 6:6, 7:11, αcωωΠε Δε;
J. Plumley, Introductory Coptic Grammar (London, 1948), §232, αcωωΠε “it
happened” as the 3rd feminine singular I perfect, impersonal; §379 αcωωΠε (<iw.s
ḫpr) can introduce a prospective conditional.
Making an Abridgement:
Taken from
Robert F. Smith, Egyptianisms
in the Book of Mormon and Other Studies (Provo, Utah: Deep Forest Green
Books, 2020), 29-30
Making an
Abridgment
I know of no ancient Hebrew word or phrase appropriate to the expression
“make (write) an abridgment” (I Nephi 1:17, Words of Mormon 1:3, Mormon 5:9,
Moroni 1:1), although the Egyptian phrase sḥwy p3w n šfdw pn “abridgment of this book” seems
suitable, [150] and “to make an abridgment” would simply be irt sḥwy.
The late Hugh Nibley found it a particularly Egyptian concept. [151] The
similar phrasing in II Maccabees 2:23,26,28,31, and 10:10 was composed in
Greek, [152] and does not suggest a Hebrew Vorlage.
This applies as
well to the KJV of Isaiah 10:23 (II Nephi 20:23),
which is quite obscure. The LDS Bible includes a note there correctly
interpreting “make a consumption” as “cause the decreed destruction” (see vs
22), while the LXX Greek translation provides the interpretive phrase
συvτετμημέvov πoιήσει (which repeats συvτέμvωv from the previous verse), which,
as Paul Hoskisson points out, the Latin Vulgate translation had rendered as abbreviationem,
and the Wycliffe Bible had translated “a breggying” (abridging), since that is
one of the meanings given for συvτέμvω “cut in pieces, chop up; cut down; cut
short, curtail, summarize, abridge.” [153] Indeed, in II Maccabees 10:10
it is used to mean “summarize.” There is nothing in the Hebrew Vorlage of
Isaiah 10:22-23 (חרוץ . . . נחרצה), however, which
could be interpreted as “abridge” or “summarize” in any textual sense
whatsoever.
It has been
claimed that Hebrew tiqqēn in Ecclesiastes 12:9 means “edit, arrange,
set in order,” and even “abridge,” [154] but that last seems unlikely,
and outside the meaning of cognate Akkadian taqānu/tuqqunu “set in
order, reorganize, secure.” [155]
Notes for the Above:
[150] Budge,
Gods of the Egyptians, I:205, citing the hieroglyphic text and
translation of M. Jéquier, Le Livre de ce qu’il y a dans l’Hades
(Paris, 1894), 37ff.; the tomb of King Seti I contained a full text of the “Book
of That Which is in the Netherworld,” as well as the “abridged” form of it (M.
Lefébure, “Le Tombeau de Seti Ier,” Memoires de la Miss. Arch.
Français [Paris, 1886]).
[151] Nibley,
BYU Studies, 11/2 (Winter 1971):164.
[152] επιτεμειν
“abridge, condense, shorten”; επιτομης “abridgement, epitome, summary”; συντομον
τηε λεξεως “conciseness of expression”; μετάφρασιv “paraphrase, metaphrase,
adaptation.” These passages were pointed out to me by Gordon Thomasson.
[153] Liddell
& Scott, Intermediate Greek Lexicon, 780; J. Lust, et al., A
Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, 2 parts (Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft, 1996), II:461.
[154] Book
of Mormon Central, “How is the Phrase ‘Make a Record’ an Evidence for the Book
of Mormon? (1 Nephi 19:4),” KnoWhy #444, June 26, 2018, online at https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/how-is-the-phrase-make-a-record-an-evidence-for-the-book-of-mormon.
[155] Tawil,
Akkadian Lexical Companion, 414.
