Scriptures / The Book of Mormon / 1 Nephi
I have been going through the Book of Mormon looking for wordplay. What I find sometimes suggests text structure. I have gone down a bit of a rabbit hole because of that, and I don't want to continue to do that at this time. So what I'm going to try to do going forward, is document some initial observations when I find a possible chiasm, and then due a future read where I focus on the structure of the text. I don't want to suggest that I haven't found structural elements to be interesting or profitable, but I have a current study goal, and I want to be able to complete that goal, while enabling me to come back and study the structure of the text..
Chiasms with Their Own Page
Part 1 Structure
There appears to be another chiasm, for which the journey to get the brass plates is only a substructure, spanning chapters 1 through 9. My proposed outline thus far is:
- F) 1 Nephi 1 - Nephi describes that he is creating a record - Starts with his name, Nephi - describes sources of his expertise - describes that his book will include and omit things compared to another record
- E) 1 Nephi 2:6-15) Lehi exhorts Laman and Lemuel to be like a river and valley respectively, (to obey God and seek after righteousness) they are stiffnecked
- 14 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.
15 And my father dwelt in a tent
- D) 1 Nephi 3-5 - the quest to get the brass plates from Jerusalem
- C) 1 Nephi 6:1-2 - Not gonna write his genealogy (Tells us what shall not be written.)
- B) 1 Nephi 6:3 - "And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon these plates, for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God."(Not writing one thing, but he is writing the things of God)
- A) 1 Nephi 6:4 - "For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved."
- B') 1 Nephi 6:5 - "Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world." (Not writing one thing, but he is writing the things of God)
- C') 1 Nephi 6:6 - "Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men." (Tells us what shall not be written.)
- D') 1 Nephi 7 - the quest to get Ishmael's family
- E') 1 Nephi 8-9:1 - Vision of the tree of life - valley, river, Laman and Lemuel will rebel
- 9:1) And all these things did my father see, and hear, and speak, as he dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel, and also a great many more things, which cannot be written upon these plates.
- F') 1 Nephi 9:2-6 - Nephi describes that he is creating a record - Record bears his name, Nephi - describes the Lord's omniscience and omnipotence - describes that his book will include and omit things compared to another record
The Prophet Zenos, Earth 1 Nephi 19:12-16
There's an interesting pattern in this one, where "and because" is being used to join together duplicate elements that have the effect of a single element within the structure. (See: A and C)
v. 12
- C) And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos. And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth,
- B) many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers.
v. 13
- A)
- a) And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.
v. 14
- b) And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.
v. 15
- A')Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers.
v. 16
- B') Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord,
- C') according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth.