What Did Angels Teach?
Updated: March 8, 2024
Synonymous Parallelism
Synonymous Parallelism repeats identical or similar words or phases. Hebrew writers demonstrate language mastery through using parallels and synonyms of words to convey understanding.
Which is the land which the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father
that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance –
Wherefore, thou seest that
the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly
destroy the mixture of thy seed which is among thy brethren.
Neither will He suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed
of thy brethren;
Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever
remain in that state of awful woundedness,
Which thou beholdest that they are in because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which hath been kept back by that abominable church,
Whose formation thou hast
seen;
(LDS: 1 Nephi 13:32)
Now ye know that the children of Israel were in bondage;
And ye know that they
were laden with tasks which were grievous to be borne;
Wherefore, ye know that it must needs be a good
thing for them that they should be brought out of bondage.
Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great
work;
And ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were
divided hither and thither and they passed through on dry ground.
But ye know that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, which
were the armies of Pharaoh.
And ye also know that they were fed with manna in the wilderness.
Yea, and ye also know that Moses, by his word, according to the
power of God which was in him, smote the rock and there came forth water that
the children of Israel might quench their thirst.
(LDS: 1 Nephi 17:29)
And the things which I have written in weakness
Will He make strong unto them,
For it persuadeth them to do good;
It maketh known unto them of their fathers,
And it speaketh of Jesus,
And persuadeth men to believe in Him,
And to endure to the end which is life eternal.
And it speaketh harsh against sin,
According to the plainness of the truth;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 33:5)
Yea, behold, at His voice
doth the hills and the mountains tremble and quake;
And by the power of His voice
they are broken up and become smooth,
yea, even like unto a valley;
Yea, by the power of His voice
doth the whole earth shake;
Yea, by the power of His voice
doth the foundations rock,
even to the very center.
(LDS: Helaman 12:12)
(The Verse above is powerful in that it exhibits Synonymous Parallelism at the beginning as well as Epistrophe (parallel endings) )
Mormon 2:38
For I know that such will sorrow for the calamity of the house of Israel,
Yea, they will sorrow for the destruction of this people;
They will sorrow that this people had not repented,
that they might have been clasped in the arms of Jesus. (Antithetical)
(LDS: Mormon 5:11)
Mormon 3:18-20
And my soul was rent with anguish because of the
slain of my people,
And I cried: O ye fair ones how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord.
O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus who stood with open arms to receive you.
Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen;
But behold, ye are fallen and I mourn your loss; (Antithetical)
O ye fair sons and daughters,
Ye fathers and mothers,
Ye husbands and wives,
Ye fair ones.
How is it that ye could have fallen.
(LDS: Mormon 6:17)
(Notice the variation of 'how could ye' 'how could ye' then 'How is it that ye could')
And now behold, I would speak somewhat unto the remnant of this people which are spared, If it so be that God may give unto them my words, that they may know of the things of their fathers; Yea, I speak unto you, ye remnant of the house of Israel, And these are the words which I speak:
Know ye that ye are of the house of Israel.
Know ye that ye must come unto repentance or ye
cannot be saved.
Know ye that ye must lay down your weapons of war and delight no
more in the shedding of blood and take them not again, save it be that God
shall command you.
Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers and
repent of all your sins and iniquities and believe in Jesus Christ, That He is
the Son of God and that He was slain by the Jews, And by the power of the
Father He hath risen again, Whereby He hath gained the victory over the grave.
And also in Him is the sting of death swallowed up;
(LDS: Mormon 7:5)
But the Lord knoweth
the things which we have written,
And also that none other people knoweth our language;
And because that none other people knoweth our language,
Therefore, He hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof.
(With Anadiplosis)
(LDS: Mormon 9:34)
For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God that he may teach the word of wisdom;
And to another,
that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
And to another,
exceeding great faith; (Ellipsis' he may teach')
And to another,
the gifts of healing by the same
Spirit;
And again to another,
that he may work mighty miracles;
And again to another,
that he may prophesy concerning all things;
And again to another,
the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;
And again to another,
all kinds of tongues;
And again to another,
the interpretation of languages and
of divers kinds of tongues.
(LDS: Moroni 10:16)
There is nothing which is secret,
save it shall be revealed;
There is no work of darkness,
save it shall be made manifest in the light;
And there is nothing which is sealed upon earth,
save it shall be loosed
(LDS: 2 Nephi 30:17)
And He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and
temptations of every kind,
And this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon Him
the pains and the sicknesses of His people.
And He will take upon Him death,
That He may loose the bands of death which bind His people.
And He will take upon Him their infirmities,
That His bowels may be filled with mercy according to the flesh,
That He may know, according to the flesh how to succor His
people according to their infirmities.
Now the Spirit knoweth all things.
Nevertheless, the Son of God suffereth, according to the flesh,
That He might take upon Him the sins of His people,
That He might blot out their transgressions according to the power of His deliverance.
And now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
(Janus parallelism on 'taking upon him'. But also:
- Synthetic Parallelism:
- And He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind,
- And this that the word might be fulfilled which saith He will take upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people.
- Synonymous Parallelism:
- And He will take upon Him death,
- That He may loose the bands of death which bind His people.
- And He will take upon Him their infirmities,
- That His bowels may be filled with mercy according to the flesh,
- That He may know, according to the flesh, how to succor His people according to their infirmities.
- Nevertheless, the Son of God suffereth, according to the flesh,
- That He might take upon Him the sins of His people,
- That He might blot out their transgressions according to the power of His deliverance.)
(LDS: Alma 7:13)
Neither doth He vary from that which He hath said.
Neither hath He a shadow of turning
From the right to the left,
Or from that which is right to that which is wrong,
Therefore, His course is one eternal round.
(Janus Parallelism on right to left physically, vs right to wrong spiritually)
(LDS: Alma 7:20)
But if he murdered,
he was punished unto death,
And if he robbed,
he was also punished,
And if he stole,
he was also punished,
And if he committed adultery,
he was also punished;
Yea, for all this wickedness they were punished,
For there was a law
that men should be judged according to their crimes;
Nevertheless, there was no law against a man's belief,
Therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done,
Therefore, all men were on equal grounds.
(Note Synonymous
Parallelism and Epistrophe (repeated endings))
(LDS: Alma 30:11)
And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works;
And if their works were good in this life
and the desires of their hearts were good,
That they should also
at the last day be restored unto that which is good;
And if his works are evil they shall be restored unto him for evil.
Therefore all things shall be restored to its proper order, everything to its natural frame.
Mortality raised to immortality,
Corruption to incorruption,
Raised to endless happiness (Ellipsis 'they shall be')
To inherit the kingdom of God,
Or to endless misery
to inherit the kingdom
of the devil;
(LDS: Alma 41:4)
(Synonymous, Antithetical and Ellipsis)
And if ye will hearken unto him,
I leave unto you a blessing,
yea, even my first
blessing;
But if ye will not hearken unto him,
I take away my first blessing,
yea, even my blessing,
And it shall rest upon
him.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 1:29)
___
And they shall crucify Him,
for thus it behooveth our God.
And there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.
For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations,
they would repent and know that He be their God.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 10:4)
For I, Nephi, have not taught them many things concerning the manner of the Jews, For their works
were works of darkness
and their doings
were doings of abomination.
(LDS: 2 Nephi 25:2)
Nay.
But ye have cursed them
and have hated them
and have not sought to recover them;
(LDS: 2 Nephi 29:5)
And it came to pass that two hundred and seventy and six years had passed away;
And we had many seasons of peace,
And we had many seasons of serious war and bloodshed,
(LDS: Omni 1:3)
And his brethren were wroth with him
because they
understood not the dealings of the Lord;
They were also wroth with him upon the waters
because they
hardened their hearts against the Lord.
And again, they were wroth with him when they had arrived to the
Promised Land
because they said that he had taken the ruling of the people out of their hands,
And they sought to kill
him.
And again, they were wroth with him
because he departed into the wilderness as the Lord had commanded him
and took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass.
For they said that he
robbed them.
(LDS: Mosiah 10:16)
For they said unto us:
Do ye suppose
that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth?
Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the
incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiff-necked a people as
they are?
Whose hearts delighteth in the shedding of blood?
Whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity?
Whose ways
have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning?
(LDS: Alma 26:24)
And now behold, my brethren,
what natural man is there that knoweth these things?
I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things,
save it be the penitent.
Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith,
and bringeth forth good works,
and prayeth continually without ceasing,
Unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God;
Yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed;
(LDS: Alma 26:22)
And we have entered into their houses and taught them,
And we have taught them in their streets,
Yea, and we have taught them upon their hills,
And we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues
and taught them;
(LDS: Alma 26:29)
Therefore, may god grant unto you, my brethren,
That ye might begin to exercise your faith unto repentance,
That ye begin to call upon his holy name,
That he would have mercy upon you.
Yea, cry unto him for mercy
For he is mighty to
save;
Yea, humble yourselves and continue in prayer unto him.
Cry unto him when ye are in your fields,
yea, over all your flocks;
Cry unto him in your houses,
Yea, over all your household,
Both morning, midday and evening;
Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies;
Yea, cry unto him against the devil
Which is an enemy to
all righteousness;
cry unto him over the crops of your fields
That ye may prosper in them;
Cry over the flocks of your fields
That they may increase.
but this is not all.
ye must pour out
your souls in your closets and your secret places and in your
wilderness;
yea, and when you do not cry unto the lord, let your hearts
be full,
drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare,
and also for the welfare of those that are around you.
(LDS: Alma 34:27)
Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart,
O Jesus Thou Son of God,
have mercy on me who art in the gall of bitterness,
and art encircled about by
the everlasting chains of death.
And now behold when I thought this,
I could remember my pains no more,
Yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more;
And O, what joy and what marvelous light I did behold.
Yea, my soul was filled with joy
as exceeding as was my pain;
Yea, I say unto you my son,
that there can be nothing
so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains;
Yea, and again I say unto you my son,
that on the other hand
there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
(LDS: Alma 36:21)
But if ye keep the commandments of God
and do with these things which are sacred,
according to that which the Lord doth command you –
for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them –
Behold, no power of earth or hell can take them from you.
For God is powerful
to the fulfilling of all His words.
For He will fulfill all His promises which He shall make unto
you.
For He hath
fulfilled His promise
which He hath made unto our fathers.
(LDS: Alma 37:17)
And now my son, I have told you this that ye might learn wisdom,
That ye may learn of me.
That there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved,
Only in and through
Christ.
Behold He is the life and the light of the world;
Behold, He is the
word of truth and
righteousness.
(LDS: Alma 38:9)
And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights
In the most bitter pain and anguish of soul,
And never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy,
Did I receive a remission of my
sins;
But behold, I did cry unto Him,
And I did find
peace to my soul.
(LDS: Alma 38:8)
And also see that ye bridle all your passions,
That ye may be filled with love,
See that ye refrain from idleness.
Do not pray as the Zoramites do,
For ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men
and to be praised for
their wisdom.
Do not say,
O God, I thank Thee that we are better than our brethren.
But rather say,
O Lord, forgive my unworthiness and remember my brethren in mercy.
Yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all
times.
(LDS: Alma 38:14)
Now repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment,
Which also was as eternal as the life of the soul should be.
Affixed opposite to the plan of happiness,
Which was as eternal also as the life of the soul.
(LDS: Alma 42:16)
Therefore, the Lord did cease to preserve them by His miraculous and matchless
power,
For they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness.
And they saw that the Lamanites were more exceeding numerous than they,
And except they should repent unto the Lord their God
they must unavoidably
perish.
For behold, they saw that
the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength,
Even man for man.
And thus had they fallen into this great transgression;
Yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression in the space of not many years.
(LDS: Helaman 4:25)
Yea, behold, at His voice
Doth the hills and the mountains tremble and quake;
And by the power of His voice
They are broken up and become smooth,
Yea, even like unto a
valley.
Yea, by the power of His voice doth the whole earth shake.
Yea, by the power of His voice doth the foundations rock,
Even to the very
center.
(LDS: Helaman 12:12)
Yea, and if He saith unto the earth Move
And it is moved.
Yea, if He say unto the earth
Thou shalt go back,
That it lengthen out the day for many hours
And it is done.
And thus according to His word the earth goeth back,
And it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still;
Yea, and behold, this is so,
For sure it is the
earth that moveth and not the sun.
And behold also if He saith unto the waters of the great deep,
Be thou dried up.
And it is done.
Behold, if He saith unto this mountain,
Be thou raised up and come over and fall upon that city,
That it be buried up
And behold, it is
done.
(LDS: Helaman 12:17)
For I know that such will sorrow for the calamity of the house of Israel,
Yea, they will sorrow for the destruction of this people;
They will sorrow that this people had not repented,
That they might have been clasped in the arms of Jesus.
(LDS: Mormon 5:11)
And my soul was rent with anguish because of the slain of my people,
And I cried O ye fair ones,
How could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord!
O ye fair ones,
How could ye have rejected that Jesus who stood with open arms to receive you.
Behold, if ye had not done this,
Ye would not have fallen;
But behold, ye are fallen
And I mourn your loss;
O ye fair sons and daughters,
Ye fathers and mothers,
Ye husbands and wives,
Ye fair ones.
How is it that ye could
have fallen!
(LDS: Mormon 6:19)