Possibility #11: In Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job on page 41 and later on page 132, Scott Noegel discusses a Janus parallelism in Job 3:25-26 in which a single Hebrew word can mean "stir up, quarrel with" or "dread, fear." The Book of Mormon often uses "stir up" for those fomenting anger against the Nephites or the righteous, as well as for righteous people striving to get sinners to repent. Thus, it is usually colocated with "anger" or themes related to "repentance." But in a couple of cases, its use is linked to "fear" and thus in theory might be able to function as a Janus parallelism similar to the one discussed by Noegel. Enos 1:23 is one example:
23 And there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things -- stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord....As translated, "stirring them up" looks back to the statement on the need to preach with "exceeding harshness" and continually remind the people of the threats of death and damnation. The proposed alternate reading related to "fear" and "dread" would also look forward to the following statement about the "fear of the Lord."
A related possibility comes from 2 Nephi 28:18-20:
18 But behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth, and great must be the fall thereof.If we interpret the destruction and shaking of the kingdom of the devil with dread and fear, then in verse 19 the word translated as "stirred up" could be looking backward to the dread the devil faces and the terrifying need for those under his power to repent. But if they don't repent, they are bound by his chains and, in a repeated instance of "stirred up," led to anger and death. If this is a case of a Janus parallelism, it is interesting that the pivotal word is repeated, with two instances of "stirred up" around the reference to "everlasting chains." Both can relate to fear associated with the description in the preceding passages (destruction of the devil's kingdom and his grasping of victims with everlasting chains), while both can also relate to being stirred up (to repentance or anger). It could function as a Janus parallelism with its face split in two. But here the meanings linked to fear and dread are implicit in contrast to the explicit use of "fear" in Enos 1:23.
19 For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish;
20 For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
Possibility #12: On pages 97-98, Noegel explores Janus parallelisms in Job 29:20-23 that includes use of a Hebrew word that can mean "pierce" or "renew." The relevant root is חָלַף, chalaph, Strong's H2498 (for the meaning of "pierce," see the Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon entry on the link I provided). In the Book of Mormon, Jacob's use of "pierce" in Jacob 2:9 may use a similar wordplay:
8 And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul."Pierce their souls" obviously is parallel with the following phrase, "wound their delicate minds," but an alternate reading of "renew" would be parallel to the preceding phrases about consoling, healing, and feasting upon the word. Similar parallelism may be at play in another case of "pierce" in this chapter, Jacob 2:35, coupled with the next verse, Jacob 3:1:
9 Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to admonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds.
35 Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.The reading of "pierced" looks back to his words to the wicked whose sins brought the result that "many hearts died." But an alternate reading of "renew" would look forward to his contrasting words to the pure in heart, to whom Jacob says God "will console you." The structure of "wound--pierce/renew--console" is essentially the same but in reverse order of what we saw in Jacob 2:9 with the first instance of "pierce" in the Book of Mormon. To me, it looks like Jacob is deliberately linking "console" to "pierced" in both of these cases in Jacob 2 as if there were a Janus parallelism in his original text. Wishful thinking?
1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.
Again, it seems to be the early writers in the Book of Mormon that provide the tentative examples of Janus parallelism.
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