Samuel's Reliance on Biblical Language

In this paper, Shon Hopkin and John Hilton III demonstrate that the words of three Book of Mormon prophets—Nephi, Jacob, and Samuel—show a high reliance on certain biblical phrases: “saith the Lord,” “Lord of Hosts,” “signs and wonders,” and “anger of the Lord . . . kindled.” Because of the relatively surprising nature of Samuel’s use of these biblical phrases, he is the focus of this study. Analysis of the purpose and implications of these phrases when used by biblical prophets demonstrates several strong possibilities regarding Samuel’s own historical context in the Book of Mormon and his use of these phrases in his discourse: (1) that Samuel emerged from a convert culture that relied heavily on the biblical text as found on the brass plates to construct its identity (see Helaman 13:1); (2) that the words placed directly in his heart (see Helaman 13:4–5) influenced Samuel’s use of these phrases; (3) that his role as a prophetic foreteller and forthteller places him in the scope of biblical prophets to a greater degree than Book of Mormon prophets who mainly provided historical narrative or doctrinal discourse; (4) that his prophetic and historical positions show similarities to the role of John the Baptist; and (5) that his use of these biblical phrases served at least in part to bolster his prophetic identity while speaking to a Nephite population who had apparently never before witnessed a prophet from the Lamanites. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 24, 2015 31 Samuel’s Reliance on Biblical Language Shon Hopkin and John Hilton III This essay grows out of a larger project focused on the word patterns of individual speakers in the Book of Mormon. As we have worked on this project, a unique characteristic that has come to the foreground is Samuel the Lamanite’s use of certain biblical phrases. Naturally, many Book of Mormon speakers consistently employ biblical language and allusions since the Old Testament is presented as part of their historical and literary milieu. Three authors, however, demonstrate an especially marked reliance on certain specific biblical titles and phrases: Nephi, Jacob, and Samuel. However, because of the relatively surprising nature of Samuel’s use of these biblical phrases, we will focus on him in this study. One can explain Nephi’s and Jacob’s familiarity with and use of biblical language because of their close proximity in space and time to their Jewish origins and their documented enthusiasm for the Hebrew prophets. But Samuel’s use of specific biblical phrases otherwise used only by Nephi and Jacob is not as easy to explain. He lived almost six hundred years after the time when the brass plates containing Old Testament writings were first obtained, was almost certainly not connected to the lineage that would have been trained to read and use the plates, and was not part of the Nephite community that had retained the primary biblical and Nephite religious records over the centuries. How is the reader to understand the fact that Samuel employs biblical phrases so rarely used by others? While this question lacks perfect answers, we will exhibit evidence of Samuel’s reliance on biblical language, suggest answers regarding such usage from clues and literary patterns in the Book of Mormon, and explore how an awareness of Samuel’s use of 32 Journal of Book of Mormon Studies biblical language can provide insights into his unique personality, message, and contribution in the Book of Mormon. One note regarding methodology before turning directly to our task: The nature of the Book of Mormon as a text available only in translation complicates the analysis of voices and requires cautious conclusions.1 Accordingly, this study does not seek to prove the validity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient text written by multiple authors.2 Rather, in this study we take the Book of Mormon as it presents itself and use data-driven literary analysis to see what insights into Book of Mormon figures and their speech and messages come to light using that lens. 1. Identifying the source of biblical similarities or differences in Book of Mormon authors can be challenging since the translation shows a strong preference for King James Version renderings, at times possibly selecting language that was similar to that biblical version because it was in prominent use in Joseph Smith’s time. There is no perfect way to distinguish between translation choices and original language choices. Our database compares the use of specific and unique phrases in English between authors with the assumption that these likely would reflect unique phrases in the original language. 2. Many who have analyzed the Book of Mormon as a product of the nineteenth century, for example, have accounted for differences in language between Book of Mormon authors as a result of Joseph Smith’s literary gifts and genius. For an example of this type of analysis, see Harold Bloom, The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993). Some who have looked closely at the variance between different purported authors or editors of the Book of Mormon text have used detailed textual methodologies such as stylometry or wordprint to demonstrate that the book actually is the result of multiple authors. See, for example, Wayne A. Larsen, Alvin C. Rencher, and Tim Layton, “Who Wrote the Book of Mormon? An Analysis of Wordprints,” BYU Studies 20/3 (1980): 225–51; reprinted by Wayne A. Larsen and Alvin C. Rencher in Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1982), 157–88; John L. Hilton, “On Verifying Wordprint Studies: Book of Mormon Authorship,” BYU Studies 30/3 (1990): 89–108; reprinted in Reynolds, Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1997), 225–53. For a word analysis study that demonstrated only one author of the Book of Mormon, see David I. Holmes, “Vocabulary Richness and the Prophetic Voice,” Literary and Linguistic Computing 6/4 (1991): 259–68. Hopkin and Hilton / Samuel’s Reliance on Biblical Language 33