You are here
Nephi’s Small Plates: A Rhetorical Analysis
Title | Nephi’s Small Plates: A Rhetorical Analysis |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Authors | Reynolds, Noel B. |
Journal | Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship |
Volume | 50 |
Pagination | 99-122 |
Keywords | Chiasmus; Nephi (Son of Lehi); Rhetorical Structures; Small Plates of Nephi |
Abstract | In previous and pending publications I have proposed interpretations of various features of Nephi’s writings. In this paper I undertake a comprehensive discussion of the seven passages in which Nephi and his successor Jacob explain the difference between the large and the small plates and describe the divinely mandated profile for each. While most readers of the Book of Mormon have been satisfied with the simple distinction between the large plates in which the large plates are a comprehensive historical record of the Nephite experience and the small plates are a record of selected spiritual experiences, including revelations and prophecies, that approach has been challenged in some academic writing. What has been missing in this literature is a comprehensive and focused analysis of all seven of the textual profiles for these two Nephite records. In the following analysis, I invoke the insights of Hebrew rhetoric as developed by Hebrew Bible scholars over the past half century to articulate a vision of how these scattered explanations are designed and placed to support the larger rhetorical structures Nephi has built into his two books. The conclusions reached support the traditional approach to these texts. For a summary of this article, see Interpreting Interpreter: https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-structuring-nephis-record-keeping/ |
URL | https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/nephis-small-plates-a-rhetorical-analysis/ |
Terms of Use
Items in the BMC Archive are made publicly available for non-commercial, private use. Inclusion within the BMC Archive does not imply endorsement. Items do not represent the official views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of Book of Mormon Central.
Bibliographic Citation
Subscribe
Get the latest updates on Book of Mormon topics and research for free