You don't understand what I mean, I guess. When God gives someone something to say--they say it according to their own language, in their own way of speaking for that time and culture. They do not speak in ancient anything. They relay God's message to them the way they normally talk. If God tells me something today---I am not going to relay it in "Thus saith the Lord unto me."---It'll be "God told me"---1300 English????----nope---In the Mechanical Translation---there is no saith--it is say or said. This is not common language that JS wrote in at the time, and you can see it clearly just by reading Lucy Smith's writings. She dunt write like dat. Charles Dickens didn't, Jane Austin didn't either. What I am saying is JS did not write the way he normally does as evidenced by his other writings which were in his everyday style for that time. He did not speak normally like the BOM sounds. Jewish translations of the Torah do not translate to old English, or King James either and neither does Egyptian from what I've seen. The King James sounds like that because that is the way English was spoken at that time.
I don't expect Lucy's writings to be without errors or rewrites. She wasn't writing scriptures.I don't expect the bible to have not had rewrites or errors that had to be redone----when trying to state something, you write it down and maybe you may think of a better, clearer way of saying it--I don't think they were trying to state the exact, word for word quote from God, but trying to relate the thought. At least that is the way I view it. I would assume one might be in a slight state of shock after hearing from God and trying to recollect the exact words might be a little difficult esp. if it was lengthy. And some are better spellers than others. When scribes made a mistake in copying the scriptures, they never crossed out and rewrote--they had to do the whole page over again---except they had scrolls. I can't type one sentence anymore without many errors. I have to proof read everything 3-4 times and still some errors sneak in.
Mmk; When God gives someone something to say--they say it according to their own language, in their own way of speaking for that time and culture.
How long do you suppose it has been since God gave someone something to say?
There is something else Joseph did which I’m sure he didn’t do in his normal speaking, write in Hebrew poetry.
“Chiasmus is a poetical or rhetorical form used by many languages, including Sumero-Akkadian [Sumeria, Assyria, Babylon], Ugaritic [Syrian area circa. 2000 B.C.] , Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, the Talmud, the New Testament, Greek, and Latin” (Mormonfair)
They are also used in English poetry
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck on
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock
In The Book of Mormon they get very complicated.
This is from FAIRMORMON
“Joseph Smith does not produce the kind of speaker that people of his day would think of as eloquent or fiery or powerful. Instead, Joseph actually produces an eloquent, persuasive man in the mold of the ancient world that comes through even in translation.
A - 1 MY son, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you,
B - that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.
C - 2 I would that ye should do as I have done, in
D - remembering the captivity of our fathers; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and
E - he surely did deliver them in their afflictions. 3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that
F - whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be
G - supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.
H - 4 And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God. 5 Now, behold, I say unto you,
I - if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me,
J - not of any worthiness of myself; 6 For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way. 7 And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us. 8 But behold, the voice said unto me: Arise. And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel. 9 And he said unto me: If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.
K - 10 And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs. 11 And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words—If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God—I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more. 12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. 13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.
L - 14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror. 15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.
M - 16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.
N - 17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins,
O - behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God,
- to atone for the sins of the world.
O' - 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
N' - 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
M' - 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
L' - 22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.
K' - 23 But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God.
J' - 24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 25 Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors; 26 For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been
I' - born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen;
H' - therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God.
G' - 27 And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and
F' - I do put my trust in him, and
E' - he will still deliver me. 28 And I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with him in glory;
D' - yea, and I will praise him forever, for he has brought our fathers out of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea; and he led them by his power into the promised land; yea, and he has delivered them out of bondage and captivity from time to time. 29 Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, delivered them out of bondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the present day; and I have always retained in remembrance their captivity; yea, and ye also ought to retain in remembrance, as I have done, their captivity. 30 But behold, my son, this is not all;
C' - for ye ought to know as I do know, that
B' - inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.
A' - Now this is according to his word.”
John Welch is the person who first picked up on the use of chiasmus in the 1960 before that no one even noticed them
"Alma 36 is worthy in form to the best of any ancient chiastic writer"
Said John Welch of this passage:
“It is difficult to imagine a more paradigmatic or a more effective use of chiasmus than this. Alma 36 is worthy in form to the best of any ancient chiastic writer….”
http://en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon/Evidences/Hebraisms/Chiasmus
*Now you say “They do not speak in ancient anything. They relay God's message to them the way they normally talk.”
How would you know since you don’t believe God has spoken to man in the last 2000 years?
But he has spoken to man, he spoke to Joseph Smith. Doctrine and Covenant 76 was a direct revelation, he spoke and someone wrote it down, it has 11 chiasmas.
3] 5 For thus saith the Lord–I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.
2] 6 Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.
1A] 7 And to them will I reveal all mysteries,
1B] yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.
1A] 8 Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know,
1B] 9 And things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.
2] And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven; and before them the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall come to naught.
3] 10 For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will–yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.
Now here is the important part Joseph Smith didn’t know he was doing it, he never spoke of it nor did anyone around him, as I said they weren’t discovered until the late 1960s.
http://davidgorton.com/Father/Articles/section76.html
