Richard Packham argues that the presence of Greek words/names such as "synagogue" and "Timothy" are anachronisms in the Book of Mormon.

Date
Apr 20, 2003
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Website
Source
Richard Packham
Excommunicated
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Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Richard Packham, "A Linguist Look at Mormonism: Notes on Linguistic Problems in Mormonism," April 20, 2003, accessed January 17, 2023

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Richard Packham
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Richard Packham
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Reading Public
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Transcription

More Greek in the Book of Mormon

Remember that Joseph Smith said that there was "no Greek or Latin" in the Book of Mormon. And it should not contain any Greek or Latin, since neither of those languages was familiar to the inhabitants of Palestine before Lehi supposedly left Jerusalem about 600 B.C. However, as we shall see, there are many Greek words in the Book of Mormon, and that fact must cast doubt on the claim that it was written by Jews who broke off all contact with their homeland in about 590 B.C. Historically, the Greek language was not used in Palestine until after the conquest of the Middle East by Alexander the Great, in 325 B.C., long after Lehi had left. Latin did not come into use in Palestine until the first century B.C. Thus, any Greek or Latin words in the Book of Mormon are linguistic anachronisms.

"Church" and "synagogue"

In the BoM at 1 Nephi 4:24-26 is this passage, where Nephi has just beheaded Laban, and has disguised himself in Laban's (miraculously non-bloody) clothing. He is speaking to Laban's servant:

24 And I also spake unto him that I should carry the engravings, which were upon the plates of brass, to my elder brethren, who were without the walls.

25 And I also bade him that he should follow me.

26 And he, supposing that I spake of the brethren of the church, and that I was truly that Laban whom I had slain, wherefore he did follow me. [emphasis added]

Does that sound odd? (Remember, this is a Jew in Jerusalem, 600 BC. Remember, too, that this "translation" is supposed to be divinely inspired.)

What word could Nephi have been using in "Reformed Egyptian" that God would inspire Joseph Smith to translate as "church"? The word "church" is never used in the Old Testament, not even in the King James Version. In fact, there was no such thing as a "church" among the Jews in 600 B.C. When the Jews referred to the religious community of Jews (which was really just the community of Jews - there was no notion of "religion" or religious organization separate from the idea of the community), they used Hebrew terms which are translated in the KJV Old Testament as "congregation" (over 300 occurrences): usually translating the Hebrew words 'moed' ("meeting place, meeting"), 'edah' ("appointed meeting, assembly, people"), or 'qahal' ("gathering, assembly").

Why would God not inspire Joseph Smith to use a word that would fit in with the King James style that Smith was using already? Like "congregation"? The word "church" occurs in the Bible (KJV) only in the New Testament, and, except for two passages in Matthew (which many scholars consider to be later interpolations), only after the death of Jesus and the rise of the organization referred to since then as the "church." In the English New Testament the word "church" is usually used to translate the Greek word 'ekklesia,' which literally means "assembly" from the root meaning "call forth." The term meant specifically the organization to which the followers of Jesus belonged, to distinguish them from the Jewish "congregation."

In 600 B.C. the organization of the religious life of the Jews was simply the organization of the hereditary priesthood, and either one was born a priest, or one was not. There was no organization to "join." There was no "church."

This becomes even stranger when Nephi begins to talk about the "two churches" of God and of the devil, in 1 Nephi 14, in the sense of distinctive religious groups with differing beliefs.

And then, in Mosiah 25:19-21, the word "churches" is used as though for the first time. Notice that the author feels he must explain what "churches" means. But didn't Nephi already use the "Reformed Egyptian" term, and didn't the writer of Mosiah have Nephi's writing available?

19 And it came to pass that king Mosiah granted unto Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave him power to ordain priests and teachers over every church.

20 Now this was done because there were so many people that they could not all be governed by one teacher; neither could they all hear the word of God in one assembly;

21 Therefore they did assemble themselves together in different bodies, being called churches; every church having their priests and their teachers, and every priest preaching the word according as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma. [emphasis added]

Thus, throughout Mosiah and Alma, the word "church" is used (one or two centuries before Jesus), even though it is really a New Testament word and a New Testament concept. And it seems to be a new concept for that time, although Nephi had written about "the church" in his records several centuries earlier.

The Jews, meanwhile, in Palestine, were meeting in "synagogues" for worship, prayer and teaching. And "synagogues" are mentioned frequently in the Book of Mormon (25 occurrences). However, the word as used there is not used as a variant of "church," but rather appears to mean something different - usually the place of worship of a sincere but false religion. One of the first occurrences of "synagogue" in the Book of Mormon is Alma 16:13:

"And Alma and Amulek went forth preaching repentance to the people in their temples, and in their sanctuaries, and also in their synagogues, which were built after the manner of the Jews."

Now, this passage is extremely interesting, because the Book of Mormon does not indicate that there was any contact between the descendants of Lehi and the Jews in Israel after about 590 B.C. And yet scholars of Jewish religious history are almost unanimous in the view that the synagogue, which we think of as so typical of Jewish religious life, did not exist before the destruction of the temple and the Babylonian Captivity (after 589 B.C.)! So how could any Nephite know about "synagogues ... after the manner of the Jews"?

Even the word "synagogue" is Greek (from 'syn-' "together" and 'ag-' "bring, lead"), and, as mentioned earlier, Greek influence was practically non-existent in Palestine until the fourth century B.C., long after Lehi supposedly had left. The word "synagogue" is used only once in the KJV Old Testament (Psalm 74:8) as a translation for 'moed.' So what is it doing in the Book of Mormon?

Is it possible that Joseph Smith (and his "divine" inspiration) couldn't translate these terms properly, thus casting doubt on the divinity of the work? Or is it more likely that this is just another indication that Joseph Smith was trying to produce another "bible" on his own, without sufficient linguistic knowledge to get away with it?

Of course, Mormons will say that these passages prove that there were synagogues and churches in Jerusalem in 600 B.C.

"Bible"

In 2 Nephi 29:3-10, Nephi (writing supposedly about 550 B.C.) prophesies that when the book he is writing (the Book of Mormon) comes forth, "many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible..."

The word "Bible" is being used here in the sense that it had in Joseph Smith's day: a collection of sacred writings in a closed canon.

The word "Bible," of course, is not found in the Bible itself. When the original Bible writers wanted to refer to the sacred writings, the Hebrew writers in the Old Testament used the Hebrew word 'k-th-b' "writing(s)." which included all kinds of writings, both secular and sacred. The New Testament writers, writing in Greek, used the word 'graphe,' which also means simply "[something] written" or even "drawn, painted."

Our English word "Bible" is an anglicization of the Greek word 'biblia', which means "books," and is simply the plural of the Greek word 'biblion' meaning "book." This word (in its singular form only) appears about twenty times in the New Testament, referring to a particular sacred book. But it never appears in the plural (except once, and then it refers to pagan writings). The idea of a Christian canon (list of approved books, a "Bible" in the traditional sense) began only in the second century A.D., and the first such "canon" was put together by Marcion about 150 A.D. (who is now considered by Christians to be a heretic).

The King James Version of the Bible uses the word "scriptures" only in the New Testament, where it is very common. ("Scripture" in the singular, appears in the KJV Old Testament, and only once, in Daniel 10:21.)

At the time Lehi supposedly left Jerusalem (600 B.C.) the idea of a closed canon of scripture (a "Bible") had not developed. There was no such thing. If you study the history of the development of the Jewish and Christian canon, you will find that the idea of canonizing certain books (that is, stamping them with the seal of divine authority) did not arise until the Alexandrian Jews, who no longer were fluent in Hebrew, wanted to translate the Hebrew sacred writings into Greek (about 250 B.C.), and thus a decision had to be made as to what books to translate. The result, completed only after several generations, was the Greek Septuagint (Old Testament), the first attempt to create a canon, a "bible." The Jewish canon was not determined completely until the first century A.D.

So the question arises with the word "Bible" in 2 Nephi: what Hebrew (or "Reformed Egyptian") word appeared on the golden plates, to be translated as "Bible"? The Book of Mormon uses the word "scriptures" about 38 times. It is used in the way the New Testament writers use it. "Bible" is a word, and - more important - a concept which did not even exist until several centuries after it was supposedly written by Nephi.

If the Book of Mormon were authentic and historically accurate, one would expect that when God told Nephi that the Gentiles would cry, "A Bible! We have a Bible!" Nephi would have asked, "Excuse me, God, what does 'Bible' mean? It's an idea I'm not familiar with." And God would have given Nephi an explanation, so that Nephite readers of his record would know what was meant: something that would develop only many centuries later.

More Greek Names

If you look through the list of names in the pronunciation guide which the church includes in every Book of Mormon, you will find other names in the Book of Mormon that are Greek, and therefore anachronistic:

Antipas - name of a mountain in the BoM (Alma 47:7, 10); in the New Testament, Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great, before whom Jesus appeared (Luke 23:7-15) and who imprisoned John the Baptist (Mark 6:14-20). Antipas is also the name of a Christan martyr, mentioned in Rev. 2:13. It is a Greek name, an abbreviation for 'Antipater.'

Antipus - name of a general in the BoM (Alma 56); same as the previous.

Archeantus - Nephite commander (Moroni 9:2); a typical Greek formation, made using the Greek prefix 'arch-' ("great, chief"), as in the Biblical Greek names Archelaus and Archippus.

Ezias - (Hel 8:20) probably 'Esaias,' the Greek form of 'Isaiah." (see above)

Jonas - the name of two (!) of the twelve disciples selected by the resurrected Jesus (3 Nephi 19:4); the Greek (i.e. New Testament) form of the Hebrew name 'Jonah'

Judea - the name of a Nephite city (Alma 56, 57); it is the Greek (i.e., New Testament) form of the Hebrew name 'Judah,' referring to the tribe, the Southern Kingdom, and the area of southern Palestine occupied by the tribe of Judah (the Jews).

Alpha and Omega - (3 Nephi 9:18) the Greek names for the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. In reference to God, these terms appear in the Bible only in the Book of Revelation (probably second century A.D.)

Timothy - one of the twelve disciples selected by the resurrected Jesus (3 Nephi 19:4); the name is pure Greek ('Timotheus') and means "honored of God," and occurs frequently in the New Testament epistles (two epistles of Paul are addressed to Timothy); the name does not occur, of course, in the Old Testament

Zenos - supposedly a Hebrew prophet, mentioned several times in the BoM, but unknown in the Old Testament; the name is Greek, either in the form 'Zeno' (the name of a Greek philosopher, 5th century B.C.) or 'Zenas,' in the New Testament at Titus 3:13.

Angola - city name at Mormon 2:4 - Greek 'angelos', meaning "angel"

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