Saturday, November 16, 2019

Chiasmus in Helaman 6:10

Helaman 6:10 reads
Now the land south was called Lehi, and the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land South.
When God's name, "Yahweh", in the Old Testament is translated into English, it is typically translated as "Lord". But the abbreviated "Yah" is kept in a lot of the names we find in the Old Testament (and in the Book of Mormon). Zedekiah has this ending and the name means "Yah is righteousness". Hence, part of "Zedekiah" and "Lord" in this verse has the same origins, which means this is a chiasmus that gets a bit lost in the English translation.

A: Now the land south
B: was called Lehi
C: and the land north
D: was called Mulek
E: which was after the son of Zedekiah [Yah]
E': for the Lord [Yah] did bring
D': Mulek
C': into the land north
B': and Lehi
A': into the land south

Hat tip: Daniel C. Peterson