Rethinking Alma 36

by Noel B. Reynolds

Overview

Abstract: While Alma 36 has long been one of the most admired examples of classical Hebrew chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, critiques in the last two decades have questioned whether, in fact, it really meets the requirements of classical biblical chiasms. The principle objections have pointed to the large sections of the chapter that are not easily included in the chiasm as outlined by John W. Welch and other proponents. Until now, this debate has not taken note of dramatic new developments in the analysis of Hebrew rhetoric over the last fifty years. The following essay turns to the discoveries made in this new approach to Hebrew rhetoric and shows that when the new "levels analysis" is incorporated into a study of Alma 36, the entire text does have a role to play in the extended chiastic structure of the chapter.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162914426
Publisher:	Interpreter Foundation
Publication date:	01/20/2020
Series:	Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship , #34
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	340 KB

About the Author

Noel Reynolds (PhD, Harvard University) is an emeritus professor of political science at Brigham Young University, where he taught a broad range of courses in legal and political philosophy, American Heritage, and the Book of Mormon. His research and publications are based in these fields and several others, including authorship studies, Mormon history, Christian history and theology, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.