Recently, as I read Alma 36, I noticed the curious use of the word, "taste"
Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste...For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted (Alma 36:24, 26)
Alma is talking about
tasting joy. I recalled that I wrote about tasting love a while ago and looked up
this old post, quoting King Benjamin.
if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love (Mosiah 4:11)
It's a rather strange use of the word. Of course it is metaphorical, but why the word, taste? I believe that the reformed Egyptian that the Nephites wrote was a variant of the Hebrew spoken language written with Egyptian script. Looking up a possible Hebrew equivalent of the English word or expression in the Book of Mormon has often made sense and given added meaning to the text. So it is in this case. I usually use
biblehub.com for that. Sure enough,
in Hebrew, to taste,
טָעַם (taam), can also mean to perceive and the meaning is literal or figurative. This is just one of many examples of traces of ancient Israelite culture and language in the Book of Mormon. Here is one more verse with this metaphorical use of "taste":
and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? (Alma 32:35)
So the Book of Mormon describes tasting joy, love and light. Another example:
And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus. (Mormon 1:15)
I cannot help but think of the fruit of the tree of life. It represented God's love, it filled those who ate it with joy and it was described as sweet and white. So this makes sense on multiple levels. The metaphorical taste descriptions in the shared quotes might well be allusions to Lehi's dream of the tree of life. But they also make sense linguistically when understanding the possible underlying Hebrew. In fact, I realized that the Old Testament also has some similar uses of the word.
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)
She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. (Proverbs 31:18)
In the example from Proverbs, it is still the Hebrew, "taam" (same as "taste in Psalm 34), but in this case translated into perceive in the KJV Bible.
