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Am I the only one that thinks that the first sentence in the Book of Mormon is awkward to the point of barely sounding like a sentence? It feels like it veers off track at least twice and doesn't ever quite recover.

Comments?

Tarski wrote:Am I the only one that thinks that the first sentence in the Book of Mormon is awkward to the point of barely sounding like a sentence? It feels like it veers off track at least twice and doesn't ever quite recover.

Comments?

Yeah, but JSJr's grammar improved as he dictated fiction out loud, as the Book of Mormon progressed.

Tarski wrote:Am I the only one that thinks that the first sentence in the Book of Mormon is awkward to the point of barely sounding like a sentence? It feels like it veers off track at least twice and doesn't ever quite recover.

Comments?

In fact the first sentence was once even longer and more meandering.

Here is the 1830 text:

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days -- nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days; yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

The current online LDS scripture text has:

1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

2 Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

Clearly someone post-1830 had been on a freshman writing course, and said something like "C'mon Nephi! That first sentence is much too long and rambling! Put in a full stop and start again."

I suppose if Joseph Smith really was dictating to an enraptured scribe who believed he was transcribing divine revelations, he could hardly have done one of his 'Or, in other words' rewrites.

[Thought: is the punctuation in the Book of Mormon scriptural? If the original text was in some version of an ancient semitic script, is it not very unlikely to have had punctuation? So what happens to the Book of Mormon is punctuation is negotiable?]

Chap wrote:

Tarski wrote:Am I the only one that thinks that the first sentence in the Book of Mormon is awkward to the point of barely sounding like a sentence? It feels like it veers off track at least twice and doesn't ever quite recover.

Comments?

In fact the first sentence was once even longer and more meandering.

Here is the 1830 text:

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days -- nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days; yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

The current online LDS scripture text has:

1 I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

2 Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.

Clearly someone post-1830 had been on a freshman writing course, and said something like "C'mon Nephi! That first sentence is much too long and rambling! Put in a full stop and start again."

I suppose if Joseph Smith really was dictating to an enraptured scribe who believed he was transcribing divine revelations, he could hardly have done one of his 'Or, in other words' rewrites.

[Thought: is the punctuation in the Book of Mormon scriptural? If the original text was in some version of an ancient semitic script, is it not very unlikely to have had punctuation? So what happens to the Book of Mormon is punctuation is negotiable?]

The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon contained no punctuation at all. All of the punctuation for the 1830 edition was added by the typesetter, John Gilbert.

For the most part, the spelling of the original manuscript was Oliver Cowdery’s. Only a few names and places were spelled out by Joseph Smith in the process of dictating the text. Joseph Smith made thousands of corrections in the subsequent editions printed during his lifetime.

A 1983 Ensign article gives more information on this topic: Understanding Textual Changes in the Book of Mormon

Nomad wrote:The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon contained no punctuation at all. All of the punctuation for the 1830 edition was added by the typesetter, John Gilbert.

For the most part, the spelling of the original manuscript was Oliver Cowdery’s. Only a few names and places were spelled out by Joseph Smith in the process of dictating the text. Joseph Smith made thousands of corrections in the subsequent editions printed during his lifetime.

In making those corrections, did JSJr use his seer stones (inside the crown of a hat or otherwise) to know which punctuation to add/change and the other changes he made?

it made for beautiful reformed egyptian but its definitely awkward english.

stemelbow wrote:it made for beautiful reformed egyptian but its definitely awkward english.

I guess God isn't much of a translator. Oh well, no one's perfect.

Tarski wrote:Am I the only one that thinks that the first sentence in the Book of Mormon is awkward to the point of barely sounding like a sentence? It feels like it veers off track at least twice and doesn't ever quite recover.

Comments?

Interesting that it is one of the favorites for LDS, and one most members can quote.

Buffalo wrote:

stemelbow wrote:it made for beautiful reformed egyptian but its definitely awkward english.

I guess God isn't much of a translator. Oh well, no one's perfect.

I wonder how Stem knows it made for beautiful reformed Egyptian. Also, we know the evidence tells us that Joseph received the translation word for word. This does not do well for the Book of Mormon so apologists invent other methods allowing for Joseph to put it into his own words, except for parts they need to be word for word(LOL).

If a translator knows a certain word meant something else back when it was first used then it does today, would they translate that word from back then into what it means today or what it meant back then?

Themis wrote:

Tarski wrote:Am I the only one that thinks that the first sentence in the Book of Mormon is awkward to the point of barely sounding like a sentence? It feels like it veers off track at least twice and doesn't ever quite recover.

Comments?

Interesting that it is one of the favorites for LDS, and one most members can quote.

Well, I wonder if it is their favorite verse after having read all the others in the book, or whether this is more like the way that if you say 'Dante' to many Italians they will wave their hands grandly and start reciting 'Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita ...' and then tail off, having reached the limits of their recollection.