2 Ne 4:21-25
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Lexical notes
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Regardless of what language Nephi used to transmit the "Psalm of Nephi," there are, in the passage, enough Hebraisms and similarities to Hebrew poetry to conjecture a Hebrew language original. When we conclude so, we can make some interesting observations.
Verses 21 and 22. The two lines are linked by parallel elements of syntax and morphology. The parallelism of Hebrew poetry often extends beyond a rhythm of thought and ideas to that of morphology, syntax, and phonetics, resemblances which tend to be less obvious, especially in translation.
He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
If we translate the passage back into Hebrew, and arrange it into typical "verse" format, we observe that each line begins with the verb form "he hath" followed by a parallel in the Hebrew root aleph - yod - bet (enemy) with aleph - heh - bet (love). The two words have similar roots (in fact yod and heh are related root letters). The second half of each line begins with "unto" ("od" in the Hebrew) followed in the Hebrew by the infinitive construct verb form.
Thus vs 21b in Hebrew would read: od kkelot bbesari (compare Ruth 2:23). In vs 22, the phrase "the causing of them to quake" is awkward in English, but brings to mind the hiphil "causative" verb form in the Hebrew. Verse 22b in Hebrew might read: od ham'idu mippanai (compare Ps 69:23) [an alternative choice would be od hacharidu mippanai (compare Ezek 30:9)].
When we stack these together the correspondences in the first clause of both lines become more evedent:
he hath filled / aleph - heh - bet he hath confounded / aleph - yod - bet
And in the final clause of both lines we have:
connective od / infinitive construct / of my flesh connective od / infinitive construct / "from my face"
Note that the connection between lines is further established by each line ending (in the Hebrew) with a yod.
As interesting as these musings might be (to some), we are tempted to ask the question, "Does a poetic interpretation effect the message conveyed by the text?" If we establish a parallel between these two lines, the answer is yes, because then we are justified in viewing them as one thought unit:
He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
As such, we have a much stronger statement than if the two lines were merely treated as successive lines among many others. As a unit, the verse has sharper contrast. As a unit, the statement is more emphatic! The lines together would be understood as:
He has filled me such that I am completely consumed with his love, But my enemies he has so confounded that they tremble with fear!
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