Goodness, abundance, fatness, and delight

The Hebrew root for "goodness" is:

טוּב -- tub: good things, goods, goodness

In the Old Testament, we see frequent references to the "great goodness of God."  Here's an example:

25 And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. (Nehemiah 9)

The context of this chapter is the Israelites reaffirming the covenant with God.  Notice the related terms, which I've put in bold, and how they swirl around the same covenant themes of "fullness" and "abundance":

50 Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness. (2 Nephi 9)

The concept of abundance without price conjures a lot of the same imagery as the Nehemiah passage.

Several variants of "great goodness" or "infinite goodness" show up in the Book of Mormon as well. Here are two examples:

17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! (2 Nephi 4)

3 And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things. (Mosiah 5)

Isaiah 52:7-10 in other scripture

In the previous post about Isaiah 52, I wanted to include all references in our standard works but it became a bit long. Having discussed the influence of Isaiah 52:7-10 in the Book of Mormon only in the last post, I will focus on the other standard works in this post. We find references to these verses in the Old Testament, New Testament and D&C.

Of particular interest is Nahum 1:15, an Old Testament prophet whose name comes from the Hebrew root for "consolation" or "mourning". He shares his name with a location on the Arabian peninsula where Ishmael was buried, as we read in 1 Nephi 16. The verse reads

Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

The first sentence is definitely related to Isaiah 52:7. Little is known about Nahum and I don't know if Wikipedia is the best source, but it states

Nahum's writings could be taken as prophecy or as history. One account suggests that his writings are a prophecy written in about 615 BC, just before the downfall of Assyria, while another account suggests that he wrote this passage as liturgy just after its downfall in 612 BC.

Whether it's 615 BC or 612 BC doesn't make that much of a difference to me. It is written perhaps a decade or two before Nephi took the brass plates and they headed to the promised land. Scholars who claim that Isaiah 52 was part of Deutero-Isaiah, written during the Jewish exile, must conclude that Isaiah 52 was based on Nahum, not the other way around. I think it makes more sense that Nahum borrowed from Isaiah based on the following reasons:

• Notice how this sentence is part of a longer clause in Isaiah 52:7. In Nahum 1:5, it is just this one sentence without further elaboration. It is natural for me to think that the longer clause is the original and someone borrowed a part of it, instead of one sentence being original and someone borrows it and expands on it. This is not hard proof of course, just something I find more likely.
• It is also natural to assume that the "small" prophet borrows from the "great", not the other way around.
• Since I believe in the historicity of the Book of Mormon, I am biased here, but we have noticed that Isaiah 52:7-10 is quoted multiple times in the Book of Mormon, not Nahum. If Nahum 1:15 was written shortly before Lehi and his group left Jerusalem and was based on Isaiah, it might further indicate that Isaiah in general and this passage in particular already had a prominent position in Lehi's religious environment.

In the New Testament, this is quoted once, in Romans 10:15.

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Other parts of Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53 are also quoted liberally in the New Testament. Those two chapters alone comprise 19% of all Isaiah quotes in the New Testament.

There are also two Isaiah 52:7-10 quotes in the D&C. D&C 84:98 quotes Isaiah 52:8-9:

Until all shall know me, who remain, even from the least unto the greatest, and shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and shall see eye to eye, and shall lift up their voice, and with the voice together sing this new song, saying:

D&C 128:19 quotes Isaiah 52:7:

Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them!

These examples show this Isaiah passage used in various context. In Nahum, the feet belong to the messenger who announces the destruction of Judah's enemies and her deliverance. Romans is about preaching the gospel and missionary work. The context for the Isaiah quote in D&C 84 is the ultimate spiritual redemption of Zion in the latter days and D&C 128 is about the redemption of the dead.

The beautiful feet on the mountain belong to whoever proclaims redemption, whether it is physical redemption from your enemies, personal redemption from receiving the gospel in your life, the ultimate redemption of Zion in the latter days or the redemption of the dead. The feet can belong to missionaries, messengers, angels, prophets, and even Christ himself (Mosiah 15:18). More on the symbolism of beautiful feet in Lord Wilmore's posts here, here and here.

Covenants, trees, and execution ceremonies

Each time I read through the Book of Mormon, I see certain verses with new eyes.  This is one of the many interesting and relatively unique aspects of the scriptures. Even though the words don't change, their meaning changes over time as my understanding deepens.

Take 3 Nephi 4, for example, where we find an account of the Nephites' struggle against the Gadianton robbers.

I've always found the description of the execution of Zemnarihah rather unusual, but now I see that this passage is packed with covenant language. Below I'll link to posts that discuss the covenant connotations of each set of highlighted words.

28 And their leader, Zemnarihah, was taken and hanged upon a tree, yea, even upon the top thereof until he was dead. And when they had hanged him until he was dead they did fell the tree to the earth, and did cry with a loud voice, saying:
29 May the Lord preserve his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they may cause to be felled to the earth all who shall seek to slay them because of power and secret combinations, even as this man hath been felled to the earth.
30 And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection.
31 And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing, and praising their God for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their enemies.
32 Yea, they did cry: Hosanna to the Most High God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the Most High God.
33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction. (3 Nephi 4)

preserve his people -- See this note about God preserving His people, especially the section about Jacob 5:11-12.

holiness of heart / hearts were swollen with joy -- This post discusses hearts. This post discusses swelling hearts and a connection to Old Testament covenant language.

rejoice -- Joy and rejoicing are intimately connected with covenant-making. See this post for an example of how this concept is intentionally woven into the narrative in Mosiah 18.

cry again with one voice -- This echoes the actions of King Benjamin's people after hearing his sermon and desiring to enter a covenant with God. (See Mosiah 4:2.) This post shows how "crying to God" is part of a divine pattern found in many places in the Book of Mormon.

protect this people -- Protection is a central blessing promised as a part of our temple covenants. This post outlines how the underlying words used to describe the Atonement symbolize divine protection.

call on the name of their God -- This post shows a few examples of Adam and Eve learning how to call upon the name of God in connection with covenants.

all as one -- This post explains how God the Father and Jesus Christ are one, and how they desire each of us to be one with them. Covenant people act with "one heart and one mind." (See Moses 7:18.)

singing -- Singing, especially in relation to praising God, has some pretty deep connections to being a covenant people. This post discusses some of that history.

gushing out of many tears -- Tears can be a symbol of gratitude and love of God.  See this post for an example, and this post for a longer discussion on "tears as rain upon the mountain."

goodness -- This post shows how "goodness" means more than we might think it does, and is connected to deliverance, too.

delivered -- Nephi uses the concept of deliverance in several clever ways. See here.  In this post, I connect the term "delivered" to covenants using examples from Alma's sermon in Ammonihah.


That is quite a bit of covenant language in one short passage. Since engaging in this effort to understand covenant symbols better, the context of this story no longer strikes me as weird. This army of robbers was dressed in such a way as to mock the symbols of the Nephites' covenant (see 3 Nephi 4:7).  The righteous Nephites fell to the earth (notice the contrast with Zemnarihah's later fate) and "did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies." (See 3 Nephi 4:8.) When that prayer was answered with great power, they naturally felt the strong desire to re-commit to their covenants.

A note about hanging Zemnarihah from the "top" of a tree

Not even this detail strikes me as odd, given the fact that I just recently studied Jacob 5.  Notice what the servant (Christ) tells the Lord of the vineyard (God the Father) about the wild branches and the Lord laments the state of his vineyard:

48 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard—have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?

The solution to this problem involves pruning. Corrupted branches are cut off and cast into the fire.

Thus, when the leader of the covenant-mocking robbers is captured, he is hung from the top of a tree, then the tree is cut down, and the people immediately praise God for their deliverance and reiterate their covenants.

Conclusion

This obscure passage in 3 Nephi 4 make it clear to me that even almost 600 years after Lehi left Jerusalem, covenants were still a very essential part of Nephite culture, and we need to understand the symbols associated with that covenant in order to gain a realistic understanding of their worldview (not to mention the Book of Mormon itself).

June 8–14. Alma 8–12: Jesus Christ Will Come to Redeem His People -- Resources from the Book of Mormon Notes blog

This week's Come Follow Me lesson covers Alma 8-12.

Alma 8 -- Internal consistency of Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah, Nourishment, Fasting in the Book of Mormon, "things that cannot be written," and more...

Alma 9 -- Prolonging/Lengthening as a covenant symbol, The Office of the Ministry of Angels, Consistent prophecies about Ammonihah, "Highly favored" and "delivered," Layers of poetic forms in Alma's sermon in Ammonihah: Chiasmus and "forget/remember" pairings, and more...


Alma 10 -- Book of Mormon / Old Testament Connections: The Judges, Cunning.


Alma 11 -- Zeezrom as a metanym, "Redeem his people" as an example of doctrinal mentors, "worth," and more...


Alma 12 -- "Sleeping in the dust," Fear and darkness, "Let us enter into his rest," and more...

Isaiah 52:7-10 in the Book of Mormon

It occurred to me how influential Isaiah 52 is in the Book of Mormon and really all scripture. Several parts of it is quoted in the Book of Mormon, sometimes more than once. I will focus on verses 7-10 because they seem to play a particular role in the Nephite culture. Ironically, it all starts with the wicked priests of king Noah quoting it.

20 And it came to pass that one of them said unto him: What meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our fathers, saying:

21 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth;

22 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion;

23 Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem;

24 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God? (Mosiah 12)

So verses 21-24 are quoting Isaiah 52:7-10. As I have showed before, Abinadi comes back to themes and expressions from this passage all throughout his sermon. We know that Alma was the only one who believed in Abinadi and wrote down his words and preached them. Lord Wilmore has demonstrated how the role of Abinadi as doctrinal mentor for Alma influenced him and even his son, Alma the younger (like here and here). Therefore it is also interesting to note how Mormon in his abridgment of the early stages of both Alma-1 and Alma-2's conversions, alludes to this Isaiah passage.

First in Mosiah 18:30

And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

The color coded connections may not seem significant. But notice the "how blessed are they" expression again in conjunction with Alma-2's conversion and the unmistakable reference to Isaiah 52.

36 And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer.

37 And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth. (Mosiah 27:37)

There is only one other place where this expression shows up in the Book of Mormon, in 4 Nephi 1:17-18

17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

18 And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away

There is no Isaiah quote here at all, only perhaps a description of a time like the one Isaiah was prophesying about. But prior to this, as Jesus is visiting the Nephites, there are more Isaiah 52:7-10 quotes as he speaks of the latter-day gathering of Israel. Once in 3 Nephi 16

17 And then the words of the prophet Isaiah shall be fulfilled, which say:

18 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion.

19 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

20 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. 

...and once in 3 Nephi 20. Here he quotes almost all of Isaiah 52, but in a different order, see this post for details. Verses 7-10 are quoted as follows

32 Then shall their watchmen lift up their voice, and with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye (Isaiah 52:8).

33 Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.

34 Then shall they break forth into joy—Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Father hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem (Isaiah 52:9).

35 The Father hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Father(Isaiah 52:10); and the Father and I are one...

40 And then shall they say: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth! (Isaiah 52:7)

I think it's interesting to note that "the salvation of God" is replaced by "the salvation of the Father" with the addition "and the Father and I are one" in verse 35.

Why does Mormon use the "how blessed were they" expression when referring to Isaiah 52 at least twice? Isaiah 52 says nothing about being blessed. The answer may be found in 3 Nephi 20 just quoted above. A few verses prior to this, the Savior states:

25 And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

26 The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant— 

Before quoting Isaiah 52, Jesus quotes the promise to Abraham given in Genesis 12:3. The blessing associated with Isaiah 52 is a consequence of being part of a covenant people. Since 3 Nephi 20 probably is a direct quote from the large plates of Nephi, it's easy for me to imagine Mormon studying this, making the connection between the Abrahamic covenant and Isaiah 52 and applying this when writing about Alma the elder and younger. After all, Alma-1 and his followers truly were blessed by entering into the covenant through their baptism at the Waters of Mormon.

"And who shall be his seed?" (Part 2)

The atonement is the reversal of the fall!

Stisa's quote from a previous post has always stuck with me. As he explains in that post, the atonement teaches us how to eat fruit instead of dust. In this post, he points out the Hebrew connections between "man" and "ground," as compared to "God" and "tree." In this post, I wrote about "giving place" in our hearts for the word of God and the fact that God "made space" within His creation in order to allow the faithfulness of each of His children to be tested.

I love the feeling in my brain when a whole set of related symbols snap together into a beautiful whole.

1. God the Father created an earth.
2. "His seed" (His spiritual children) end up scattered across the world as a result of the Fall. 
3. Over time, they are visited by divinely authorized messengers and are invited to hear the word (which is also likened to a seed) and give place for that word in their heart.  
4. If they hearken to the word, it begins to grow inside of them and they desire to enter into covenants.  The old, carnal creature symbolically dies as a result of this covenant-making, and they become the sons of God, His seed, the heirs of the kingdom of God. 
5. They are then led along the path laid out by the divine messengers (by means of the iron rod, another symbol of the word of God) and ascend to Mount Zion, the enclosed garden, therein to partake of the fruit of the tree of life and receive all that God has.
6. The instrument of the gathering in the latter days is the Book of Mormon, which was long prophesied to be the gathering of the word for the purpose of the final gathering of Israel.

In other words, one "seed" (God's word) is being used to gather the other "seed" (His children)!

The missionary companions of the Sons of Mosiah

The mission of the Sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites might be my favorite story in the Book of Mormon. We talk about the Sons of Mosiah a lot and tend to forget that they were not alone. In Alma 17:8 we read about the beginning of their mission

And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites.

This is another example of an internally consistent reference. Compare with Mosiah 28:1

Now it came to pass that after the sons of Mosiah had done all these things, they took a small number with them and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites

So the Sons of Mosiah did not go on a mission alone. Later, we even learn some of their names. In Alma 21:11, we read about Muloki, Ammah and "his brethren".

Similarly, we tend to think of a group of 5 going around to destroy the church and being stopped by an angel: Alma + the 4 Sons of Mosiah. A careful reading of Mosiah 27:32, 34 suggests otherwise.

And now it came to pass that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, and those who were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them...And four of them were the sons of Mosiah.

It seems that Book of Mormon authors often focus on certain people that are important for the narrative and leave out the rest. It may just be the custom or culture. Another example is Nephi mentioning his sisters once in passing in 2 Nephi 5:6. If he had not done that, many would be inclined to believe that he had no sisters.

This is one reason why I don't find it unlikely that the group who left Jerusalem was larger than we think. For instance that Lehi had a household with servants who came along. Or they encountered people on the way. Or they met and even mixed with other people after they arrived in America. But the Book of Mormon is just very focused on certain people that have a certain role to play in the way the history is related to achieve the real purpose of the book.

"And who shall be his seed?" (Part 1)

10 ... Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed? (Mosiah 15)

Sometimes a verse takes on new meaning and added depth as one's own understanding of the Gospel deepens. Such is the case with the verse above.  Abinadi's last question in this verse really struck me.

Abinadi immediately answers his own question:

11 Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God.
12 For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed? (Mosiah 15)

In light of the "doctrinal mentorship" extending from Abinadi to Alma-1 and later Alma-2, it seems likely to me that these words of Abinadi are at the root of Alma-2's famous sermon on the word of God (see what I did there?), wherein he likens the word of God to a seed. We also see traces of this doctrine taught by Alma-2 to the people of Zarahemla.

Let's try to find the elements mentioned by Abinadi in Mosiah 15:11 in the sermons of Alma-2:

"whosoever has heard the words of the prophets," "believed that the Lord would redeem his people"

10 And now I ask of you on what conditions are they saved? Yea, what grounds had they to hope for salvation? What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell?
11 Behold, I can tell you—did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi? And was he not a holy prophet? Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them? (Alma 5)

That's about as clear as it can be. Not only do we get the specific words here, we also get Abinadi and Alma-1 directly mentioned.

"looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins"

As a side note, this wording is connected to Alma-1 in his words at the waters of Mormon:

20 Yea, even he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people.
21 And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.
22 And thus he commanded them to preach. And thus they became the children of God. (Mosiah 18)

Alma-2 uses this type of wording several times in his ministry:

15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? (Alma 5)

6 But behold, I trust that ye are not in a state of so much unbelief as were your brethren; I trust ... that ye look forward for the remission of your sins, with an everlasting faith, which is to come. (Alma 7)

2 And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption. (Alma 13)

Interestingly, "look forward" is used 6 times on the small plates (2 Nephi 25:16, 18, 24, 27; 26:8; Jarom 1:11), though never in connection with "redemption" or "remission of sin."

Conclusion

This is yet another interesting example of evidence of Book of Mormon figures reciting doctrines taught by their direct predecessors.  A quote from Isaiah taught by Abinadi to Alma-1 is then taught by him, followed by Alma-2. For additional examples, see here.

Come, Follow Me, June 1-7. Alma 5-7: “Have Ye Experienced This Mighty Change in Your Hearts?”

In this week's Come, Follow Me, we will read Alma's words to the people in Zarahemla and Gideon after he left the judgment seat to Nephihah and committed to proclaim the word to the Nephites. Click on the links below for blog posts related to Alma chapters 5-7 that give further thoughts and insight.

Alma 5 -- Poetic parallelism in the structure of Alma 5, The "Hand" of God, Garments and blood, The song of redeeming love and numerous other posts (click on the "Alma 5" link and make sure to click on "other posts" at the bottom of the page to get to the next page)
Alma 6 -- Intentional parallels between Alma 5-13 and Alma 36-42, A note on Gideon, "thus it is. Amen" in the Book of Mormon, etc.
Alma 7 -- "Blotted out", Alma's use of Psalms, The office of the ministry of angels, etc.

Chiasmus in Mosiah 27

As probably the most well-known chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, Alma 36 beautifully uses ancient Hebrew poetry to relate the conversion story of Alma the Younger. This is Alma reflecting on the event many years later as he speaks to his oldest son, Helaman. Mormon apparently decided to include Alma's words directly from the plates of Nephi without abridgment. But he also made an abridged version of it in Mosiah 27 as the actual event in Alma's life was recorded on the plates.

Reading Mosiah 27, to my surprise I saw a chiastic structure here as well. I have never seen it pointed out before, but it certainly includes a lot of the elements and criteria for a chiasmus that I know of.

A: 11 And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood

B: 12 And so great was their astonishment, that

C: they fell to the earth,

D: and understood not the words which he spake unto them.

E: 13 Nevertheless he cried again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.

F: 14 And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth;

G: therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.

G': 15 And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God.

F': 16 Now I say unto thee: Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam, and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he has done for them; for they were in bondage, and he has delivered them.

E': And now I say unto thee, Alma, go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered, and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off.

D’: 17 And now it came to pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma, and he departed.

C': 18 And now Alma and those that were with him fell again to the earth,

B': for great was their astonishment; for with their own eyes they had beheld an angel of the Lord;

A': and his voice was as thunder, which shook the earth; and they knew that there was nothing save the power of God that could shake the earth and cause it to tremble as though it would part asunder.

Could it be that Mormon knew about the chiastic structure of Alma's words to Helaman on the plates of Nephi and decided to create a chiasmus himself when abridging the record of Alma's conversion in the Book of Mosiah?