Mark J. Johnson
Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 7/1 (1995): 130–38.
1050-7930 (print), 2168-3719 (online)
Review of The Legacy of the Brass Plates of Laban: A Comparison of Biblical and Book of Mormon Isaiah Texts (1994), by H. Clay Gorton.
Title
Author(s)
Reference
ISSN
Abstract
H. Clay Gorton. The Legacy of the Brass Plates of
Laban: A Comparison of Biblical alld Book of MormOil Isaiah Texts. Bountiful, UT: Horizon, 1994. 298 pp., with appendix, bibliography, and subject index. $18.98.
Reviewed by Mark J. Johnson
In The Legacy of rhe 8ral'.\' Plafel' of Laban. H. Clay Gorton sets out to show that the Isaiah material in the Book of Mormo n is a better translation by comparing it with earlier Isaiah sources. The introduction sets forth the purpose of the book: "each difference between the Book of Mormon Isaiah and the King James Version Isa iah will be identified and noted. In addition . these differences will be compared with the wording of the Isaiah chapters in three other versions of the Old Testament" (p. II ). Gorto n accomplishes thi s by providing a verse-by-verse compa ri so n with other, older Isaiah texts. He uses translations of the Latin Vulgate, the Greek Septuagint. and the Spanish Salamanca Bible. which is believed to be a later translation of the older Masoretic Hebrew ve rsIOn.
Before he beg ins the point-by-point comparisons. Gorton provides us with 82 pages of introductory material and hi storical background. He includes sec tions on the problems of transla ti on, possible motives for removal of material from the Isaiah texts, and chiasti c comparisons between the Book of Mormon Isaiah and the King James Isaiah . These sections are informative, with background for the thesis of the book, yet are also ftlled with speculation on Gorton's part .
The course of th is review wi ll be accompl ished in four secti ons. First, I wi ll di scuss the texts which are compared to th e Book of Mormon lex t and whether they are appropriate ror compari so n. Second. I wili address the compariso ns made by Gorton and hi s
GORTON, LEGACY Of" THE BRASS PLAn'S Of- lABAN (JOHNSON) 13 1
views on the comparisons' significance, and conclude whether these comparisons enhance our understanding of the Book of Mormon. Th ird , I will detail some of the chiastic parallels as ou tlined by Gort on. Lastly, I will add ress the completeness of the book and how it could have been improved.
Translated Correctly?
In add ition to reprodu cing the Span ish tex t of the Salamanca Bible (a di straction for th ose not fluent in Span ish), he provides an English translat ion of th e Spanish text as well . What perhaps ma y be viewed as a bias on Gorton's part is hi s couching of the English translation of the Salamanca Bible in the vernacular of the Book of Mormon. Here, obvious differences are emphasized whil e small differences in transmiss ion fro m the Hebrew into the S panish and then into the English mi ght be overlooked. Alt hough Gort on should be given cred it fo r including what is believed to be a translation of the Masoretic Hebrew, perhaps a better source could be found .
Gorton further asserts that hi s translation of the Salamanca Bible into Engli sh was done after the same manner that Joseph Smith followed in hi s translati on of the Isaiah chapters, Although Gorton has support for his views of the meth ods of the translation I (that Joseph acknowledged that the Book of Mormon Isa iah wa" close enough to the King James Isaiah , and so simply lifted the King James texts to the Book of Mormon),2 all we are told is that the translati on was done by "gift and power of God ." Was this the method used by Gorton?
Further, thi s theory that is adapted by Gorton seems to contl ict with the premise of the rest of Legacy, that the Isa iah texts contained on the brass plates of Laban were not corrupted by uni nspired translators, wh ich is the fl aw wit h the Kin g James Isaiah
I Gorton cites B. H. Robcns and Sidney Sperry in his bib liography (p. 249).
2 Gorton summ;1rilcs his argumelll on p~ge 31 of Legacy. He writes: "Although no firsthand account e)( i ~IS of Joseph Smith's employ ment of the King James text in translating the Isaiah chapters, it is obvious he used lhe King James Bible as the basis for his terminology in translating the Isaiah chapters:' He goes on to say that when differences c)(isted. Joseph rollowed the King James wording.
132 REVIEW OF BOOKS ONTHE BOOK Or- MORMON 7/1 ( 1995)
texts. It docs not make sense to say that the Book of Mormon borrowed most of its language from the Kin g James Version, and then to prai se the Book of Mormon for it s antiquit y and purity.
The Book of Mormon variants contain many minor differences compared to the text of the King James Version (i.e., many differences are mere ly an addition of an a lld or a switch from a thaI to a when in the verse). and one is forced to ask why Jose ph made such sma t] changes at all. Basicall y, the theory is that Jose ph used the tex ts of the Kin g James Ve rsion to ease the burden of translmion excepI when the two texI S actuall y d iffe red. In othe r words. Joseph used the King James Version when it matched the brass plates version. But if a match occ urs, wh y not cont inue to use the ori gina l bmss pl ates ve rsion instead of having to switch from one so urce to an other, even though the tex ts are th e same? Either way, the Prophet would have ended up with the same message.
In addition. many of the smallest chan ges (espec ia lly in I a nd 2 Neph i) are very close together. In orde r to note and correc t so many sma ll differences, Joseph would have had to make a detail ed line-by- line stud y of the two diffe rent versions. A comparison of bo th th e brass pl ates and the Kin g James Version would req uire intense sc rutin y. Sure ly, such an intensive process would no t re lieve the Prophet from the diffi culties of translati on. In facl, translation should not be an easy process, but rath er one th at needs to be pondered and stud ied (D&C 8:2) .
Concernin g thi s, John Tvedtnes writes, "The ex planation most often g iven .. . is that the prophet Jose ph Smith , while trans lating the plates. dec ided to put the Biblical passages into the King James language because it was the Bible most commonl y used by his conte mporari es."3 While it is poss ible that Joseph adapted the King James Version vernacul ar, the numerous changes do not justiFy regarding whole sections of the King James Isa iah as the source of the Book of Mormon tex t. All we can be sure abollt the translation is that the language used is approved of by the Lord (D&C 17,6).
3 John A T vedtnes. 'The l s~iah Vari:.IIlts in Ihe Boo\; of M ormon" (provo, UT: FARMS, 1981 ), I.
GORTON . LEGAC Y or-TIlE BRASS PLA TES OF LA BAN (JOIINSON) 133
Pass the S ifter
While outlining many significan t changes, Gorton also makes us wade th rough large quantities of materia l with inconsequent ial changes. He affirms on page 66 that 233 di fferences ex ist between the Isaiah material in the King James Version and the Book of Mormon that are stylistic and have litt le (if any) effect on the meaning of the verse. Yel, despite the relative unimporl<lnce o f these minor detail s. he guides us through them anyway. The reader is forced to weed out the wheat from the tares and find Ihe passages in which differe nces arc significant in the midst of the surrounding fille r. Thoroughness is not necessarily a good thing.
The verses that do not contain diffe rences are identi fied by their verse number and "No Change." and then the verse is li sted anyway. Verses that contain mi nor changes are labeled "S tyli stic Change On ly. " and all the different translalions afe listed, o ften without commentary. Once the reader has overlooked a ll the gnat s this book strains at, he or she can gain some val uable insight into the differences in the Book of Mormon Isaiah passages.
Gorton's an al ysis of 2 Nephi 12 and Isaiah 2 is th orough and thoughtful. For example. in 2 Neph i 12:5 , he notes the e limination of the phrase "yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, everyone to his wicked ways" in all oth er variants beside the Book of Mormon. Instead of trying to explain the chan ge by a technica l, sc riba l oversight, he emphasizes the spi ri lUal aspect. that it was a de li berate omiss ion by a wicked priest or sc ri be. Most of the ana lysis by Gorton th roughout the book deal s with the losses from this attit ude, that wicked men eliminated Israel' s condemn ation and created the appearance that "a ll is well in Zion; yea, Zion prosperelh , all is well " (2 Nephi 28:21).
This approach toward the di ffe rent variants is very refreshing and makes Gorton's book wort hwhile. I feel thi s approach is also in harmony with the message of the Book of Mormon on the e limination of the words of God. Nephi , the foremost expert on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, never mentions that the words of the Lamb would be lost due to a scribal gloss, but rather emphasizes the words which were e liminated at the hand of the " g re at and abominable church" (c f. I Nephi 13:34). Nephi, I feel, would ha ve approved the results achieved by Gorton.
\34 REVIEW OF BOOKS ON TI-IE BOOK OF MORMON 7/1 (1995)
The most impress ive examples of things that were del iberately removed arc conta ined in a separate section called "The Influence of Apostate Israel." This chapter is exce llent and is the crowning feature of the book. Anyone who is serious abolll the study of the Isaiah variants should consider Ihis section with great care.
Writing Blind?
A major poin t in Legacy is that the numerous chiast ic s tructure s in Ihe scriptures were the resu ll of in sp irat ion and not planning on beha lf of the scriptural writers. Indeed. th is is qui te a clai m. The Book of Mormon does contain elements of chiasmus which appear to be crafted and manipu lated by its authors. Nephi. the son of Lehi, orten uses quotat ions in his writings and builds chiasms around them. Most notable is Nephi' s quotation of Isaiah 29:6- 24 in 2 Nephi 27:2- 35. This chapter (w hich is not covered in Legacy ) begins wi th a chiasm which spans bot h Nephi's introduction (2 Neph i 26:33- 27: 1-2) and the firs t few verses of the quotation of Isaiah 29 (2 Nephi 27:3- 5). Here we find Neph i building a larger chiasm oul of a small one. It seems most like ly that Nephi was fu ll y aware of chiasmus as he produced his record.
It should be noted that many ancient writi ngs that arc not of a sc ri ptural nature arc also chiast ic. If chiastic structu red messages were used excl usively by the Lord, then chiasmus shou ld not appear in other sources. Yet chiasmus has been found in such broad sources as the wri ti ngs of Homer, Sumero-Akkadian contracls,4 and the Maya n Popu l Vuh.5 The prese nce of chiasmus in ancient writ ings does not guaran tee it to be inspired sc ripture.
Probably the best example of the paradox that Gorton tries to establish is the Song of Solomon. Th is short book contains almost thirty chiasms,6 many of which arc 100 large in clement and span to be accidental. Yet the manusc ri pts of the Joseph Smith Tra nsla-
4 Robert F. Smith. ··Chiasmus in Sumero-Akkadiiln:· in Welch. cd .. Clria.wlIIs ill Alltiquil)" (Hildcshcim: Gcrslcnhcrg. 1981).
5 Allen J. Christcnson. ·The Usc of Chiasmu~ hy the Ancient Quiche:· ultin American Literatllres iour/la/4/2 (Fall 19f\8): 125-50.
6 Wckh. Clrilll"/IlrlS ill Allliqllily. ]36.
GORTON, LEGACYOFTflE BRASS PLA TES OF LAIJAN(10HNSON) 135
tion declare the Song of Solomon to be "not ins pired."7 If chiasmus is a sign of inspired writing, the Prophet erred in denouncing the Song of Solomon. A more like ly reason that the Song of Solomon contains chiasmus is that chiasmus was taug ht as a literary device throughout Jewish hi story.
How the Grinch Stole Chiasmus8
A better use of the study of chiasmus in ancien t texts shoul d be to demonst rate completeness rather than insp iration . The book of Revelation, for example, is structured in chiastic form to help insure that the text is not added to, or taken away from (Revelation 22: 18- (9). T~x t s struc tured in chiastic form will betray any tampering from an out side source. Once chiasmus is understood , scriptural text s can be analyzed along chiastic lines. If the chiasm is incomplete or large ly unbalanced, then it would indicate that "plain and precious parts" were removed from the au thor' s original message by the "great and abominable church."
An examp le of usi ng chiasmus to indicate comp leteness may be found in an anal ysis of Reve lat ion 12:1-4. Whi le the rest of the chapter has been fou nd to be chiastic by Nil s Lund ,9 these firs t four verses betray no chiastic characteristics. The Joseph Smi th Translati on, however, rearranges these verses into a tight chiasm. I have arran ged verses 1-4 of JST Revelation 12 with Joseph 's changes in ita lic s.
A And there appeared a great sigtl
in heaven, ill the Iike,le:.s
of the thing!>" 0 11 the carl" ;
7 For more detJ il see Roben J. Mouhews, A P/ailwr Tmns/aliofl: Joseph Smillr 's Tm/l~'I{jlion o/ lhe /Jibll'. t\ ffi.f(ory wul Commefllary (Provo: Brigham Youn/ U ni ~ersiIY. 1994). t98.
The Grilldl is just a shortened form of the greot and abominable church. II is h<lrd cnough 10 wrilc it o~cr and over in my nOles. leI alone spell iL
9 Ni ls Lund, Chi(lSIIIIIJ" in Ihe New Tes/(mrefll (Ch:!pel Hi ll: Uni~ersity of Norlh enrol;n:! Press . 1942). 398-99.
136 REVIEW OF BOOKS ON TIt E BOOK OF MORMON 7/1 (1995)
B a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
under her feel, and upon her head
a crown of twelve stars.
C And the woman being wi th chi ld , cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
And she brought Jorth a mall child.
D who was 10 rule all nations with (l rod oj iron; and her child )I/as cllught up /11110 God
and his thrOlle.
C' And ,hae appeared another sign ill heaven;
and behold, a great red dragolJ,
S' having seven heads and tell horns. and seven crowns
upon his heads.
A' And his tail drew the third part
oj the stars oj heavell, and did cast
them to the earth. (JST Revelation 12: 1-4)
Or in other words.
A Heaven and Earth B Heads and Crowns
GORTON, LEGACY OF THE BRASS PlATES OF LABAN (JOHNSON) 137
C Birth of the Chi ld D Role of the Ch ild
C' Appearance of the Dragon B' Heads and Crowns
A' Heaven and Earth
The restoration o f chi asmus po ints to a restoration of the original te xt. Because th is chiasm is an e xact fi t wit hin the rest of the c hapter, it shows that this is how Joh n the Revelator scri bed the re velat ion and that it was manipulated by a later detractor.
Gorton docs ackno wledge that "de gradatio n (of chiasmu s ] would occ ur as concepts were changed from the o ri ginal" (p. 53). He declares , wit ho ut e vidence, that inspired chiasmus would degrade in vari ous tran slati ons o ve r the years, while a consc ious use of chiasmus as a literary style would not. Such a claim is unfounded and too much to expect the reader to belie ve.
Gorton c ite s hi s book LaIlRlwge of the Lordi 0 as e vidence to introduce his claim thaI c hi asmus is exclusively an inspired form . He also cla ims that " it is the opinion of many scholars, . . . that the chiasmus is an inspired for m." He claims many sources, bul none are cited . Research on the subject of c hiasmus in the Doc trine and Covenants was co mpleted some twenty years earl ie r by Charles Kroupa and Richard Sh ipp.ll Sh ipp and Kroupa al so come to the conclusion that chiasmus is "n creat ion o f the Divine M ind. "12 Bul whi le the re ve lations of the Prophet Joseph Smi th do cont ain nu merous chiasms, as do other revelations of the earl y Church leaders,13 it docs not prove that the anc ie nt chiastic s tructu res are exc lusively the resu lt of inspirati on.
Although ch iasmus in modern scriplUre might indi cate inspiration fro m the Lord , 14 ils presence anc ientl y o nly indicates li terary prowess a mong the anc ients.
to H. Clay Gonon, Language oflile Lord (Bounti fu l: Horizon, 1993). 1 I Charles G. Kroupa and Richard C. Shipp . From the Mind of God (Salt
Lake City: Shi pp. 1972). 12 Ibid .. 22. 13 Kroup :md Shipp, From lile Mind of God, 8. 18- 19. ch::tn D&C 136:20-
26 (a revel:uion given to Brigham Young) as ehiast ic. I fi nd that chiasmus also exists in the writings of Joseph F. Smith (D&C 138:5-28).
14 It may be that the high level of chi asmus in the Doctrine and Covenants derives from the simple fact that it was the style of the Jews. Jesus used
138 REY[EW OF BOOKS ON THE BOOK OF MORMON?/] (1995)
"Make no claim of completeness" J5
H. Clay Gorton should be praised for hi s compari son of the Isaiah text s in the Book of Mormon to other ancient sources. Unfortunately, however, thi s book often di sregards other Isa iah qUOIes in the Book of M ormon. One of the most profound changes in the Isaiah texts in the Book of Mormon occurs in its version of Isaiah 29. The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 27), in quoting Isaiah 29, is not onl y different from the King James Version. but considerably different from the Joseph Smith Translation as well.
Isaiah I I is quoted in 2 Nephi 2 1 and partially quoted (I saiah 11:4- 9) in 2 Nephi 30:9- 15. Isaiah 12 is qu oted in 2 Nephi 22. Both Isaiah II and 12 arc somehow overlooked by Gorton.
In many places in the Book of Mormon the same Isaiah text is quoted di fferen tl y in different di scourses. Isaiah 9: 12- 13 is quoted in 2 Nephi 19:12- 13, and later paraphrased in 2 Nephi 28:32. A side-by-side compari son of these different verses, along with a compari son to the early Hebrew and Greek. would assuredly shed new ligh t on the Isaiah text s in the Book of Mormon.
Further, hi s calculations of chiasms Ihal are shared by the King James and the Book of Mormon Isaiah texts arc a li ltle Sh Oft.
While he records that ten are common to both texts, I have not ed close to thirty .
Conclusion
While Legacy cont ains a lot of speculation by the author, it is valuable for it s commentary on the spiritual nalUre of the losses of the Isaiah text s. If the reader desires a good grasp of the chan ges in the Isaiah texts, a side-by-side study of Gorton' s Legacy and Tvedtnes's " Isa iah Variants in th e Book of Mormon" should be most beneficial. Together, thesc two achieve a good balance o f technical and spiritual.
chiasmus in his discourse while he w:!s mor!:!1 (sec Mmthcw 13: 13-18). I! seems likely that what he learned here on e.:Jrth would he ctlrricd with him beyond the veil (D&C 130:18).
IS Gonon. ulIIlIlU/ge of 1111' Lord. 3.
