The structural connection between the Book of Mormon and the Bible

Bradley A. Kramer makes some interesting observations when comparing the structure of the Book of Mormon and the Bible as a whole. He argues that

• The structure of the Book of Mormon periods is the reverse of that of the Bible, forming a chiastic pattern when combined.
• Comparing these structural elements, The Book of Mormon consists of positive counterpoints to negative incidents in the Bible.

Obviously, both of these need explanation. Regarding the first point, Kramer sets it up this way:

A.  Period of origins: Genesis

       B.  Period of receiving the Law: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

                      C.  Period of Judges: Joshua, Judges

                                     D.  Period of Kings: 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings

                                                    E.  Period of Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
                                                    Ezekiel, etc.

                                                    E’. Period of Prophets: 1&2 Nephi, 
                                                    Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni

                                     D’. Period of Kings: Words of Mormon, Mosiah

                      C’. Period of Judges: Helaman, Alma

       B’. Period of receiving the Law: 3&4 Nephi

A'.  Period of origins: Mormon, Ether

Some of these are self-explanatory, some are not. Kramer's label for A/A' is perhaps not the best. But consider the parallels: For instance, Ether starts out with the Tower of Babel (known from Genesis) and the annihilations in both Ether and Mormon as antithetic parallels to the creation account. Also, A and A' are where massive migrations and a great sea journey occur.

"The Law" recieved in B is obviously the Law of Moses, whereas in B' it is the higher law introduced by the Savior in 3rd Nephi and lived by the people in 4th Nephi.

Moroni does not fit into this structure. I don't know if this structure was intentional at all, but if so, it would have been by Mormon, who abridged the records before Moroni wrote. As we know, the small plates of Nephi was not part of the abridgment, but the structure would still be maintained. Lehi, who lived in the period of the prophets, a contemporary with Jeremia and Ezekiel would still have started the Book of Mormon with his account and Nephi would have followed up. The difference would be that the period of the kings would have started sooner and lasted longer because Jacob, Enos, etc would be replaced by Nephite kings. Another possible argument against this structure being anything but coincidental is the fact that Mormon had the brass plates and not the Bible as we have it. However, it seems that the brass plates were structured the same way.

In any case, Kramer states

By connecting to the Hebrew scriptures chiastically, The Book of Mormon transforms the destruction of the First Temple and its resultant dispersion of the Jews from an endpoint to a turning point

This brings us to the second bullet point above, which is exemplified by the table below.

Period	Negative Biblical incident	Positive Book of Mormon incident
Period of Prophets	The majority of Jews ignore their prophets, are captured by the Babylonians and are carried off into captivity	A family of Jews (the Lehites) heed their prophet, avoid captivity and go off to freedom in a promised land
Period of Kings	Fallen kings (Saul, David, Salomon) and wicked despots frequently rule Israel and promote idolatry within their kingdoms	Righteous Israelite servant-kings (Benjamin, Mosiah) reign and under their rule the people shun idolatry
Period of Judges	Faithless Israelites during Samuel's era choose an earthly king and renounce the leadership of charismatic judges	Faithful Israelites during King Mosiah's reign renounce the rule of dynastic kings and move to a system of people-appointed judges, with God as their ultimate king
Period of receiving the Law	Murmuring children of Israel fail to wait for Moses when he ascends Mt. Sinai, disobey his laaw, and fashion a golden calf; when it is time to enter the Promised Land, they refuse out of fear and consequently wander in the desert for forty years	Loyal children of Israel patiently await a Moses-like figure (Jesus) who finally comes down from on high in power and glory; and they so completely embrace his law that their promised land enjoys a two-hundred year period of peace and prosperity
Period of Origins	One man (Adam) transgresses God's law, brings about the Fall, and is cast out of God's presence	One man (the brother of Jared) is so faithful to God that he is personally redeemed from the Fall, and is welcomed back into God's presence

This was an eye-opener for me. Not just the chiastic structure of the two volumes of scripture, but the realization that the Bible and Book of Mormon go together as companions in deeper ways than I had thought. By going further into the connections outlined in this post, I think there are many learning points to be found. This reminds me of 1 Nephi 13:41

the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed [The Book of Mormon], as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb[The Bible]; wherefore they both shall be established in one; for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth.