CHIASMS

A style of Hebrew writing, the so-called 'chiasmus' or 'chiasmus', which has been used by many Semitic authors.
for about 3000 years. Hebrew culture (that of the Old Testament) used this style in many parts of its writings.
The chiasmus consists of a progression of ideas or elements written in a way that leads to a main theme and then
The same ideas or elements are written in reverse, moving away from the main point. A simple chiasmus is a parallelism.
with the elements of the second line in reverse. For example, a simple one would be the diagram of parallels in Psalm 124:7

Our Soul escaped like a bird

from the hunters' bond
The tie broke
And we escaped

This crossing was first noted by German and English theologians in the 19th century, but the idea had to wait
until the 1930s for someone to be able to introduce it to the world (Nils Lund) in a convincing manner.
Currently, articles discussing the topic are common. Thanks to the discovery of chiasmus, progress has been made.
to have a greater understanding of biblical literature, an example of this would be Psalm 3:7-8, which says:

... Save me, my God; For you have struck all my enemies on the cheek; You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
salvation is of the Lord...

At first glance, this verse has nothing strange about it, except for some redundancy in the ideas; however, if we have
this verse in the following way, we will see something that perhaps we had not noticed:

Save me, my God;

Because you hurt
to all my enemies
in the small table;
The teeth
of the perverse
you broke
Salvation is of the Lord

It is now quite clear that the repetition and redundancy were not something casual, but rather the author's original idea.
an idea that expresses great beauty and literary refinement, and that is typical of the peoples of the Middle East, where it
he wrote the Bible.

Other examples from the Bible can be Genesis 7:21-23, Psalm 58, Isaiah 55:8, Isaiah 6:10, etc. However, it turns out
It's interesting to see that some of the greatest and most spectacular examples of chiasmus can be found in the Book of
Mormon.

The Book of Mormon claims to have been written by descendants of people who lived in the Middle Eastern area,
where the style of Chiasmus was used most profusely, and in his writings he displays many complex examples of
chiastic structures, which are very difficult to explain as having been written by Joseph Smith (or by anyone else)
nineteenth-century person), because the first serious studies on chiasmus were published in Europe more than 10
Years after Joseph's death, and in the same Book of Mormon, they were newly discovered in the 1960s by John.
W. Welch.
Some examples of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon may be:

Mosiah 5:10-12

And it will happen that whoever does not take upon themselves the NAME of Christ
(b) It will have to be CALLED by some other name
Therefore, he will be found on the LEFT SIDE OF GOD
and I would like you to REMEMBER that this is the NAME
That which I said I would give you, which would NEVER BE ERASED
(f) Otherwise for TRANSGRESSION
Therefore, be careful not to TRANSGRESS.
so that the name is NOT ERASED from your hearts
I tell you: I wish that you would always remember to keep that NAME written down.
(c') In your hearts so that you do not find yourselves on the LEFT OF GOD
but that you hear and know the voice by which you WILL BE CALLED
(a') And also the NAME by which he will call you.

In this passage, the use of parallelism is centered on the danger of transgression (sin) and the importance of taking upon
we the name of Christ.

Another interesting example is Alma 41:13-14 with its message about the term 'restoration':

Oh, my son, that's not the case; but rather the meaning of the word restoration.
it is returning evil for evil, or flesh for flesh, or diabolical for diabolical;
(a,a) GOOD for what is GOOD,
(b,b) FRONT for what is FRONT,
(c,c) JUST for what is JUST,
(d,d) MERCIFUL for what is MERCIFUL.
(d) Therefore, my son, try to be MERCIFUL with your brothers.
(c) Treat with JUSTICE
judge with righteousness
(a) And do GOOD without ceasing; And if you do all these things, then you will receive your reward
(d) Yes, MERCY will be restored to you again,
Justice will be restored to you once again.
You will be RESTORED to a fair judgment again
And you will be rewarded again with the GOOD
this example constitutes a use of parallelism even more complex than the classics, in which Alma explains to her son the
the fact that if we do such things those will be the ones that will be restored to us on the final day.
In the book of Nephi, there are many examples of Chiasmus; in fact, the first two Nephis seem to have been
organized in this way. Even more interesting is the structure of the Book of Mosiah, which is organized as
a complex chiasm centered on the messianic teachings of Abinadi, and emphasizing the teachings of
Benjamin and Mosiah.

King Benjamin exhorts his sons (1:1-8)

B Mosiah is chosen to succeed his father (1:10)
C Mosiah receives the sacred records (1:16)
The Speech of King Benjamin (2:9-5:15)
The people enter into an agreement (6:1)
The priests were ordered (6:3)
G Ammon travels to Zarahemla and discovers the land of Lehi-Nefi (7:1-6)
And people in captivity, Ammon comes out of prison (7:15)
The 24 sheets of gold (8:9)
Zeniff begins the records and leaves Zarahemla (9:1)
Defense Against the Lamanites (9:14-10:20)
King Noah and the priests (11:1-15)
M Abinadi is pursued and falls into prison (11-12)
And Abinadi exposes the old Law of Moses and the old
Messianic prophecies to the priests (13-14)
And Abinadi gave new prophecies about Jesus Christ (15-16)
M' Abinadi is pursued and killed (17:5-20)
The King Noah and the priests (18:32-20:5)
The Lamanites attack the people of Limhi (20:6-26)
The records of Zeniff end with the departure from the land of Lehi-Nephi (22)
The 24 gold plates (21:27, 22:14)
People from Alma in trouble (23)
G' Alma leaves the land of Lehi-Nephi towards Zarahemla (24)
The Church is organized by Alma (25:14-24)
Many did not want to make an agreement (26:1-4)
From the words of Alma and the words of the angel of the Lord (26-27)
C' Alma son receives the records (28:20)
In Judges, they are chosen to replace the kings (29:5-32)
Mosiah exhorts his people (29:5-32)

The chiasmus of Mosiah is so complex that it contains even more elements than those mentioned, for example, in its first
Verse, Mosiah 1:1 speaks of 'a continuous peace' in the land, attributed to the good reign of Benjamin, and at the end of the
The book again refers to the establishment of "peace on earth," attributed to the work done by Mosiah and the
Judges.
As I mentioned before, the focal point of the Book of Mosiah is the Messianic teachings of Abinadi (for a change,
Christ is the center of the Book of Mormon), preceded and continued by the teachings of King Benjamin and King
Mosiah, and the results of not living the gospel and following it. Hardly anyone could have written this and in such a way.
accidentally result in the levels of parallelism that the complete text exhibits, unless it had come from a culture in
the which this type of writing hello sido somethingof on tradition.
Perhaps the greatest and most beautiful example of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon (and perhaps in all scriptures) is constituted by
Chapter 36 of Alma, with its chiasm around Christ. Alma 36 is centered on the experience of Alma when in
deep despair because of his sins remembers the name of Christ, surrenders to him, and is redeemed:

(a) My son, listen to my WORDS (1)

(b) To the extent that YOU KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD YOU WILL PROSPER in the land (1)
(c) THAT YOU DO WHAT I HAVE DONE (2)
REMEMBERING THE CAPTIVITY of our parents
(e) Why they were in CAPTIVITY (2)
(f) No one could RESCUE them (2)
Except for the GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
(h) He certainly freed them (2)
(i) Because (I) KNOW (3)
(j) Put your TRUST IN GOD (3)
(k) SUSTAINED IN...TRIBULATIONS AND...DIFFICULTIES AND...AFFLICTIONS (3)
(l) I KNOW. OF GOD (4)
(m) Would have been BORN OF GOD (5)
God has made me aware of these things
(o) I was TRYING TO DESTROY the Church of God (6)
(p) And I got up and stood up (8)
I could not open my mouth NOR MAKE USE of my limbs
(r) ANGEL (11)
(s) Fear of RETURNING TO THE PRESENCE of God (14-15)
He was TORTURED WITH the pains of hell
(u) I saw my soul tormented with UNDESCRIBABLE HORROR (14)
I was troubled by the MEMORY OF MY MANY SINS
(w) I remembered having heard (17)
JESUS CHRIST, A SON OF GOD
(x’)OH, JESUS, SON OF GOD (18)
WHEN I THOUGHT about this
He stopped tormenting me with the MEMORY OF MY SINS
(u’) What joy, what WONDERFUL light I SAW (20)
(t') There can be nothing SO INTENSE OR SWEET AS MY JOY WAS (21)
(s') Desire to BE IN THE PRESENCE of God (22)
(r') ANGELES (22)
(q') My members RECOVERED their strength (23)
(p') I STOOD UP (23)
(o’) I have worked ... TO BRING SOULS to repentance (24)
(n') The words he has communicated to me (26)
(they) have been born of God (26)
(I) KNOW...ABOUT GOD (26)
(k'). SUSTAINED IN TRIBULATIONS AND DIFFICULTIES (27)
(I) Place my TRUST IN HIM.
(i') AND I know that I...
(h') (He) has FREED them (28)
(g') The (God) (29)
(f’) By his everlasting power he has also SET THEM FREE (29)
(e') Your servitude and CAPTIVITY (29)
HELD THE MEMORY of his captivity
YOU MUST KNOW AS I KNOW (30)
To the extent that you KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, YOU WILL PROSPER.
And this is according to His WORD (30)

Alma could not have found a better literary expression to place Christ at the very center of all things.
what he did in this example of chiasmus. Alma 36 is even more complex, since the previous one was only a outline.
quick, but the chapter still hides more complex chiasms, however, the power of Alma 36 is the beauty that
encapsulates its message: The love in the teaching of a father to a son, the account of the pain of what Alma experienced.
the cause of their errors and their conversion, all centered on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the peace and joy that came to him thanks to the
power of the Lord. Alma 36 is beautiful, one of the most beautiful pieces of ancient literature, and is yet another testament of the
origin of the Book of Mormon.
Conclusions.
The texts we saw are spectacular examples of ancient writings. They are spectacular examples of structure.
chemistry of which Joseph Smith knew nothing, of which in reality no one from that time knew. They were barely discovered
in ancient writings in this century. They are such interesting examples that many non-Mormon scholars have been left
surprised by its existence in the Book of Mormon, as it evidences the origins in ancient Semitic writing, and not
a literary form of the 19th century.

Since it is evident that a young farmer of 20 years very hardly could have written such literary forms
complex issues like this, some detractors of the Book of Mormon begin to argue that it was really about a
translation, however, with a different origin than the known, for example it is found in a book by Loftes Tryk: 'The
best kept secrets in the Book of Mormon. He believes that the Book of Mormon contains elegant examples of
chiasmus and other complex literary structures, which are impossible without high intellectual work, due to the almost style
of computer in the selection of images and ideas and their accuracy in placing them in each part of the story. For him,
Alma 42 is a formidable piece of writing, brilliant and unmatched anywhere in literature, too
for any human being, for which the only reasonable explanation is a supernatural origin, well, he describes it.
as an origin by the supernatural power of Satan (I suppose to confuse). Well, it is an explanation of where
The chiasms come into play, since Joseph Smith as the author really doesn't fit. However, those who provide this argument
About its origin, I would only ask you to read those verses from the Book of Mormon that looked at, for example,
Alma 36. That freeing themselves from any prejudices they may have, they see the beauty of how Christ is the center of a
message of message of redemption. That like the whole book, the center is Jesus Christ, and that once they read it, really
and honestly, reflect on who could have been its author

The Book of Mormon has a divine and ancient origin, and has been written and prepared by prophets of the Lord in ancient times.
America to be a testimony of Jesus Christ, and a help for each of us to draw closer to Him.
Studying and understanding chiasmus helps us better understand the message, a message centered on Our Savior,
Jesus Christ.