Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon

by Donald W. Parry

Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of The Complete Text Reformatted comprises the entire text of the Book of Mormon formatted into historical narrative or paralletistic forms. All of these forms and figures are designed to present the central message of the Book of Mormon Jesus Christ and his gospel in an unforgettable, understandable, artistic, and fascinating way.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction

490 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Donald W. Parry, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls at Brigham Young University, is married to Camille Mills, from Las Vegas, Nevada; they have six children. He has served as a member of the International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls since 1994. He has authored or edited thirty-three books, ten of which pertain to the scrolls and five deal with the writings of Isaiah. Parry has also published articles in journals, festschrifts, conference proceedings, and encyclopedias. He is also a member of several other professional organizations, including the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, Groningen, The Netherlands, Society for Biblical Literature, Atlanta, Georgia, and the National Association of Professors of Hebrew, Madison, Wisconsin. Parry presently serves as a member of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation Board of Trustees.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have immensely enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon text from this volume. It is another way of reading that Book of Mormon that gave me new insight into the literary construction of this book. It couldn't be said better than it is said in the first two paragraphs of the Foreward.

" The Book of Mormon can be read—and should be read—in many ways. Generously, it repays close readers who seek to apply its messages to present-day lives as well as those that delve into its ancient origins. It submits itself openly to all kinds of rhetorical analyses, theological discussions, or comparative literary studies. But above all, no matter how it is read, the Book of Mormon welcomes readers. It invites all readers to meet its prophets and to be transformed by its wisdom. It begs to be read."
" The present volume superbly facilitates one kind of literary reading of the Book of Mormon by reformatting its complete text in order to display as plainly as possible its most skillful and most beautiful uses of virtually all varieties of parallelism. Learning with this aid to read the Book of Mormon with an eye toward its abundant use of parallelism opens new windows of understanding and appreciation for this richly rewarding scripture." (Foreward, p. VII)


This review is of the second edition, published 2016.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exactly what the title says it is. It was very interesting and enlightening seeing certain passages of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ in a different light and with a different emphasis when the text was reformatted to show the rhetorical and poetic patterns of the text. The Isaiah passages above all are easier to read and comprehend, but there are many other passages which are beneficial to study in this format.

All of that said, you don't NEED to read the Book of Mormon in this format in order to understand or appreciate the underlying message and testimony of Jesus Christ that is at the heart of this sacred text. The Book of Mormon is true regardless of whether the text is formatted in prose or to show other rhetorical patterns. As a lifelong student of the Book of Mormon, I am glad I read it in this format at least once in my lifetime. It deepened my testimony of the ancient origins of the text and helped me even more deeply understand how the Bible and the Book of Mormon testimony of Jesus Christ complement and reinforce one another. The visual layout of the rhetorical patterns also helped shed new light on passages that were already familiar to me. All in all, studying the Book of Mormon is always extremely rewarding, and doing so on this occasion has strengthened my faith in Jesus Christ.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful to read the Book of Mormon written out in poetic form instead of traditional left aligned chapters and verses. Who knew reading a familiar text laid out in a different way on the page could be such an enlightening experience? Especially helpful if you are interested in chiasmus or are more of a visual learner.

[Kathy Hyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic format to read the Book of Mormon anew. It is formatted in the poetic style used by many of the writers in the B of M, chiasmus and parallelism. It opens the words in a new and different way. Brought me to ponder things I hadn’t thought of before. Enjoyed

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Parry was a professor of mine at BYU. He is a brilliant Hebrew scholar and enthusiast of all things having to do with connections between the Book of Mormon and the ancient world. In this version of the Book of Mormon he has painstakingly combed the text looking for patterns that fit into Hebraic parallelisms. To even just pick the book up and skim its pages, it is incredible to see the amount of material that can be read in this form. Whether or not the intent of the authors was always to present their thoughts in this way, or if some of it is coincidental really doesn't matter. It's a fun read anyway.

[Jason Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised how much Hebrew poetry is in the Book of Mormon. Neat stuff. I have a whole new appreciation for Nephi's words, especially.