The following is taken from Jeff Lindsay’s article Why is the Book of Mormon so Wordy?:
Repetition is a hallmark of Hebrew, and repetition and
wordiness is highly evident in nearly any translation of the Old Testament into
English, as it is in the Book of Mormon. As one writer put it,
One final characteristic,
reflecting a tempo of life style perhaps forever gone, is the Hebrew lack of
urgency to get a thing said. Any modern editor would feel duty-bound to
blue-pencil out much of the Old Testament.
(Edward W. Goodrick, Do It Yourself Hebrew And
Greek, (1980, Zondervan Publishing/Multnomah Press), p. 15:6, as cited by
D. Charles Pyle in e-mail received June 23, 2002)
One simple example of Biblical wordiness is
explained by Richard Elliott Friedman in "Studying Torah: Commentary,
Interpretation, Translation" in Judaism, Summer 2001, available at FindArticles.com:
The formulation "And he said,
saying..." occurs fairly often in the Hebrew text. Although it feels
redundant and awkward in English, I still prefer to retain the extra
word--"saying"--to reflect the original.
This redundant form, one example of many that
could be given, illustrates the inherent wordiness of Biblical Hebrew.
Let's look at a few examples of Biblical wordiness,
drawing from the King James Version. These are samples I found just by randomly
flipping through my Bible. Wordiness begins right in the first chapter. From
Genesis 1:6,7, we have:
6 And God said, Let there be
a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let
it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which
were under the firmament from the waters which
were above the firmament: and it was so.
This could be said with about half as many words.
Joshua 24:27 provides another common example:
27 And Joshua said unto all the
people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath
heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be
therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
Now consider 1 Samuel 4:9-10,21-22:
9 Be strong, and quit
yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the
Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and
fight.
10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man
into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; . . .
21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The
glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and
because of her father in law and her husband.
22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God
is taken.
Here we have verses which repeat phrases in a
seemingly redundant way. Verse 9 repeats "quit yourselves like men"
and verses 21-22 repeat "the glory is departed from Israel" and
"the ark of God is taken." And verse 10 shows a great deal of
wordiness, almost painful wordiness, when it could simply say, "The
Philistines won, killing many Hebrews." But 1 Samuel 4 is based on the
Hebrew text, and Hebrew writers use a much wordier style than modern English
writers do.
Another example of blatant redundancy comes from Job
12:12-13:
12 With the ancient is
wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
The same concept in much the same words is
repeated in these two verses. Any literate high-school student could edit out
this redundancy. Another example from Job is in chapter 21, verses 2-3:
2 Hear diligently my speech, and
let this be your consolations.
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
To the Bible-believing critics who mock the Book
of Mormon for having such wordiness, I, too, say "mock on."
Now let's turn to Isaiah, a writer who strongly
influenced Book of Mormon writers. In Isaiah 25 verses 6 and 9, we encounter
more wordiness:
6 And in this mountain shall the
LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a
feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of
marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. . . .
9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we
have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have
waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
And in Isaiah 28:23, look at how many words it
takes to say, "Listen!":
23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice;
hearken, and hear my speech.
Another of many examples is in Isaiah 4:3:
3 And it shall come to pass, that
he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called
holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.
Next, look also at how many words it takes to
deliver some simple bad news to Jerusalem in Jeremiah 21:5-7:
5 And I myself will fight against
you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in
fury, and in great wrath.
6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall
die of a great pestilence.
7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his
servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the
pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into
the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge
of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
Finally, here is part of Isaiah 24:16:
But I said, My leanness, my
leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea,
the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
See any ways to condense that?
Many phrases in Biblical passages are repetitious, but
that is very natural in the Hebrew of scriptures, as it is in the Book of
Mormon. One objection that is raised, though, is that the Book of Mormon was
written by the difficult process of engraving on metal plates. Wouldn't that
force writers to change their style? Wouldn't that force more conciseness,
regardless of one's literary training?
