Alma
30:47:
One of the
Book of Mormon's formal characteristics is embedding, where each phrase
in a series of phrases is grammatically or logically dependent upon the phrase
just before it, thus forming a chain of linked phrases. For example, in Alma's
description of Korihor's curse (Alma 30:47) we find a five-member embedded structure:
a
Therefore, if thou shalt deny again,
b behold, God shall smite thee,
c that thou shalt become dumb,
d that thou shalt never open thy mouth any more,
e that thou shalt not deceive this people any more.
The first
two phrases are members of a conditional ("if-then") phrase. Phrase c
develops b with a result clause conjoined with the word "that"
describing the effect of the smiting; phrase d develops c, also with a result
clause similarly conjoined, describing or defining the effect of being dumb;
and finally he concludes with another similar result clause describing what
happens when one cannot open one's mouth. One of the literary effects of this
particular embedded structure is a feeling of focusing. From the general
condition of denial one moves to the specific result of being smitten. This is
then defined further as becoming dumb. Temporal limits are then set for the
curse: Korihor will never open his mouth any more. The final clause
fleshes out the description by giving the ultimate rationale for the curse. (David P. Wright, "Review of The
God-Inspired Language of the Book of Mormon: Structuring and Commentary
(1988), by Wade Brown," FARMS Review of Books on the Book of Mormon
1, no. 1 [1989]: 13)
Alma 30:28:
Another feature of Book of Mormon
narrative is listing.
This may be termed a type of
parallelism. Korihor describes the means by which the church leaders have
oppressed the people (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
The repetitive structure is clear
whether one sees it visually listed as here or reads it in customary
verse-paragraph form. One of the effects of this list is to halt the reader in
the middle of Korihor's criticism and hear more emphatically the anti-Christ's criticisms.
They become drum beats accentuating his charges. The reader becomes more aware
of his negative character hearing plainly his sacrilegious mixing of the pure
forms of religious knowledge, i.e., traditions, dreams, and visions, with impure
forms, i.e., whims and pretended mysteries. (Ibid., 13-14)
Alma
30:24-26:
The last example from Alma 30 shows
the statement-counterstatement form (30:24-26).
a Ye say that this people is a free
people,
b
behold, I say these are in bondage
c Ye say that those ancient prophecies
are true,
d
behold, I say that ye do not know that they are true
e Ye say that this people is a guilty
and a fallen people
f
because of the transgression of a parent,
g
behold, I say that a child is not guilty because of its parents.
h And ye also say that Christ shall
come,
i
but, behold, I say that ye do not know that there shall be a Christ.
j
And ye say also that he shall be slain for the sins of the world—
Korihor first makes a statement about
what the people believe (a, c, e, h) and then refutes it (b, d, g, i). The last
item in the series contains only a statement (j) with no refutation, but this
is intuited by the momentum of the passage. The third statement contains an
extra explanatory tag (f) not found in the other cases. Each statement contains
the initial elements "ye ... say that." The counterstatements begin
with "behold, I say that." This form, much like the list in the
previous example, sets up a rhythmic expectation. Its tempo is much slower than
the list's, but it draws the reader's attention to its message just as well.
This form which sets ideas off against one another is particularly apt as a
miniature reflection of the larger political and religious conflict between
Korihor and Alma. (Ibid., 14-15)
