The Book of Mormon is filled with Hebrew-style poetic parallelisms, including chiasmus. This volume rearranges the entire text to highlight those parallelisms. These forms of expression present the book in an unforgettable, understandable, artistic, and fascinating way.

Noegel here examines instances of Janus parallelism in the Hebrew Bible with particular attention to the book of Job, and with excursuses on the device in other ancient Near Esatern literatures. The author finds the punning device integral to the book of Job, serving a referential function. Within the context of dialogue and debate, the polysemous statements resemble a poetry contest among the participants (Job, his friends, and Elihu). The book also treats the relationship between wordplay and wisdom literature; polysemy as preserved in the Greek, Aramaic, Latin, and Syriac translations; and the impact of Janus parallelism on textual criticism and the unity of the book of Job.>

For readers of the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin's speech is a treasure trove of inspiration, wisdom, eloquence, and spiritual insight. King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom" is the most substantial collection of studies ever to focus exclusively on this landmark address. The contributors examine this speech in the multifaceted contexts in which it was delivered: as a classic speech of a departing leader near the time of his death, as the focus of an annual festival season mandated anciently under the law of Moses, as part of a covenant renewal ceremony delivered within the sacred precinct of the Nephite temple in Zarahemla, and as preparation for the coronation of a new king. Historical and linguistic tools and information are employed in these essays to help the reader to better grasp the speech's historical setting, its doctrinal implications, its literary qualities, its influence then and now, and its overall brilliance.

Of Isaiah' prophetic writings, the resurrected Lord taught, "Search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Nephi 32:1). Yet no chapters in the Book of Mormon are more difficult to understand than the Isaiah passages quoted by Nephi, Jacob, Abinadi, and Christ himself. The 17 essays in Isaiah in the Book of Mormon take a variety of approaches in seeking to help readers make the most of Isaiah's teachings. The contributing scholars draw on the Book of Mormon prophets as knowledgeable guides, examining how and why those ancient writers used and interpreted Isaiah's prophetic teachings. They explain Nephi's keys for understanding the great prophet, use historical and linguistic information to clarify his meanings, examine recurring themes, and reflect on the influence of these texts on ancient and modern saints.

This book is an introduction to Hebraisms and Hebrew-like literary forms in the Book of Mormon that have persisted in the English translation of the text. More than two dozen such elements are identified, discussed, and related to corresponding forms found in the Hebrew Bible and in the ancient Near East. The author demonstrates that the presence of these underlying literary forms is consistent with the Book of Mormon's claimed ancient Near Eastern origins and attests the accuracy of its translation and the inspiration of its translator.

Since 1830, millions of people have read the Book of Mormon and become convinced that Joseph Smith's account of its ancient origins is correct. Others, however, assume that the book must be a fraud. The Book of Mormon describes peoples, cultures, history, and lands largely unknown to the 19th-century world. But today we enjoy a relative wealth of information about those times and peoples, providing a background against which the Book of Mormon's claims of ancient origin can be tested. This volume brings together a collection of initial efforts to mount such tests. Although first published in 1982, these nine essays have not been outdated or refuted by subsequent studies. The evidence and conclusions they put forward are just as persuasive today as when they were first published.