betha Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Did I read you previous post correctly or not? That is why I asked you to clarify your use of the word certainty as used in a sentence that hurt my brain to parse.
Bill Hamblin Posted January 13, 2012 Author Posted January 13, 2012 Did I read you previous post correctly or not? That is why I asked you to clarify your use of the word certainty as used in a sentence that hurt my brain to parse.We know with certainty that the Old Testament was (largely) in Hebrew. That's why most modern scholars prefer to call it the Hebrew Bible. Simple, really.
altersteve Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Anyway, why would the Book of Mormon plates be written in Egyptian? I understand they were later written in a reformed Egyptian script that was developed over many years (to my understanding). Did Mormon take Nephi's Egyptian records and translate them into a reformed Egyptian?I hope that makes sense.
Nominee Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 The problem is there are two sets of plates mentioned. In 1:2 it talks about the prophesies of the fathers = the (Lost) book of Lehi, books of Nephi, etc. The second set of plates are the "brass plates" in 1:3. The question is, are the plates that you need to know Egyptian to read as described in 1:4 the Nephite plates of 1:2 or the brass plates of 1:3. Does the "these plates" in 1:4a refer to the Nephite plates of 1:2 or the brass plates of 1:3. Are the things Lehi could not have remembered in 1:4 his revelations (from the Lost book of Lehi), or the materials on the brass plates (or both). Furthermore, even if the "these plates" of 1:4 refer to the brass plates, it is possible that some of the writings on the brass plates (the Joseph of Egypt material) were in Egyptian and the rest in Hebrew. Thus, needing to know Egyptian to read the brass plates does not necessarily mean all the brass plates are in Egyptian. If only some of them are, you would still need to know Egyptian to read them.I do agree that it could be very possible that some of the writings on the brass plates were in Hebrew and the rest in Egyptian. It makes good sense that the Joseph of Egypt material would be in Egyptian while the latter engravings could be in Hebrew. The gratitude expressed in the scriptures is for the ability to read all that is on the plates (of brass) but this doesn't make it a claim to be only one language or the other ~ rather it is a claim to being able to read all the plates in however many languages may be engraved.
volgadon Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I haven't explored this in depth, but I wouldn't be surprised if this scripture wasn't describing a script, for the most part.
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