Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon III—Behold
Author: John Gee
Date: 2024-11-07T14:17:01+00:00
Keywords: Biblical Hebrew;Book of Mormon;verbal punctuation;Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints;LDS;Mormonism
Description: Abstract: As an ancient book, the Book of Mormon employed verbal punctuation rather than typographical punctuation. An example of this verbal punctuation is the word behold, which is used in the Book of Mormon to point things out, to highlight unexpected effects of situations, and to modify a previously expressed proposition. This corresponds to ancient Hebrew usage. Joseph Smith’s usage from the time the Book of Mormon was produced, however, differs in both its frequency and how it was used, even when Joseph Smith was consciously trying to imitate the Book of Mormon.
Publisher: The Interpreter Foundation

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Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon III—Behold

John Gee

Abstract: As an ancient book, the Book of Mormon employed verbal punctuation rather than typographical punctuation. An example of this verbal punctuation is the word behold, which is used in the Book of Mormon to point things out, to highlight unexpected effects of situations, and to modify a previously expressed proposition. This corresponds to ancient Hebrew usage. Joseph Smith’s usage from the time the Book of Mormon was produced, however, differs in both its frequency and how it was used, even when Joseph Smith was consciously trying to imitate the Book of Mormon.

All the modern punctuation in the published versions of the Book of Mormon has been added by later editors and was not in the original manuscript or on the plates. Its original punctuation was verbal punctuation. As an ancient book, the Book of Mormon uses words rather than marks as punctuation to structure the narrative. Though the modern punctuation is helpful to the modern reader, it can, at times, distract us from the ancient text.

In the Book of Mormon manuscripts and in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, the verbal punctuation that most regularly signals a chapter break is “(and) now,” which accounts for more than two-thirds (68%) of the chapter breaks in the 1830 Book of Mormon.1 The second most common beginning for a new chapter, occurring 10% of the time, is behold.

Methodology

The methodology used in this analysis has been outlined before2 and here will only be summarized:

1. Book of Mormon usage is paramount and is therefore considered first. Normally, with hundreds of citations, only one citation is given for any book. In this case, however, more than one indicative citation is given to illustrate the usage.

2. After the Book of Mormon usage is given, ancient equivalents are considered, with special emphasis on Hebrew and Egyptian.

3. We then consider Joseph Smith’s early usage as defined by a standard set of early documents.

4. Because of both theoretical and practical problems with the Doctrine and Covenants, it is not considered among the early documentation of Joseph Smith’s usage.

Those interested in fuller details of the methodology are encouraged to consult the earlier discussion.

Book of Mormon Usage

In an examination of the strings of verbal punctuation in the Book of Mormon, “behold” usually comes after “and now” and before “it came to pass.”3

The original text of the Book of Mormon has 1,640 instances of the word behold, 14 of beholdest, 5 of beholding, and 129 of beheld.4 The present and the past tense are sometimes mixed up in the manuscripts.5 The verbal form of behold that means “to look at, or see” is distinct from the verbal punctuation, and only the latter is our concern here. There are 1,213 instances of the use of behold as verbal punctuation.

Though there has been some good work on the use of behold in the Joseph Smith Translation,6 some previous examinations of the use of behold in the Book of Mormon have been completely ad hoc and contradictory.7 The Book of Mormon uses the term behold in a variety of ways. The best way to discover that usage is by an investigation into how it is used in the text.

Deictic usage

Sometimes the Book of Mormon uses the term behold in a deictic sense (deictic deriving from Greek deiknumi, meaning “to point out, show, demonstrate”), to point out a person or group of people, a thing, a place, an event, or a state of affairs. The Book of Mormon provides numerous examples of this deictic usage. We will not look at all 1,213 examples but chose representative examples from throughout the Book of Mormon.

Though we will cite from the modern printed editions of the Book of Mormon, the reader should be aware that the modern punctuation is not consistent and may not necessarily be helpful in understanding the ancient punctuation system used in the Book of Mormon. I have therefore eliminated the inconsistent commas after the word behold.

Here are some examples of behold being used to point out a person or group of people:

Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee. (1 Nephi 3:13)

Behold, my sons, and my daughters, who are the sons and the daughters of my firstborn, I would that ye should give ear unto my words. (2 Nephi 4:3)

Behold, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, having been called of God, and ordained after the manner of his holy order, and having been consecrated by my brother Nephi, (2 Nephi 6:2)

Behold, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you; (2 Nephi 30:1)

Behold, my brethren, ye can go to the other plates of Nephi; (Jarom 1:14)

Behold, here is the man, (Mosiah 12:16)

Behold, here is the king of the Lamanites; (Mosiah 20:13)

Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren; (Mosiah 26:11)

Behold, this Lehi was a man who had been with Moroni in the more part of all his battles; (Alma 53:2)

Behold, there were two thousand of those young men, (Alma 53:18)

Behold, there were men who were judges, (Helaman 8:1)

O Lord, behold this people repenteth; (Helaman 11:10)

Behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, (3 Nephi 3:12)

Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him. (3 Nephi 11:7)

Behold your little ones. (3 Nephi 17:23)

Some of these passages begin speeches and the behold calls attention to the audience being addressed. An exception is Jesus’s presentation of the children to their parents, where “Behold your little ones” is the entire speech and is directed to their parents (3 Nephi 17:23). One might argue that behold here is the imperative form of the verb, but the deictic use of behold arguably works better.

In some cases, behold is used to point to things:

Behold the tree. (Jacob 5:23)

Behold, there are all kinds of bad fruit; (Jacob 5:32)

Behold this last, whose branch hath withered away, (Jacob 5:43)

Behold, this is my prophecy— (Jacob 6:1)

Behold, this was the desire which I desired of him— (Enos 1:13)

And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true; (Mosiah 1:6)

Behold, this is my church; (Mosiah 26:22)

Behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people. (Alma 9:29)

Behold, here are six onties of silver, (Alma 11:22)

Behold, here are our weapons of war; (Alma 44:8)

Behold, here is one thing in which we may have great joy. (Alma 56:9)

Behold, there are many books and many records of every kind, (Helaman 3:15)

Behold here is money (Helaman 9:20)

Behold, this body, which ye now behold, (Ether 3:16)

Examples of behold pointing out a place are also found in the Book of Mormon:

Behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, (2 Nephi 10:10)

Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (Mosiah 18:8)

Behold, there they found all the people who had departed out of the land of Ammonihah, (Alma 15:1)

Behold, there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, (Alma 16:6)

Behold, this great city, and also all those great cities which are round about, (Helaman 7:22)

Behold, this is a choice land, (Ether 2:12)

The Book of Mormon also uses behold to point out a time:

Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, (1 Nephi 17:21)

Behold, this long time have we nourished this tree, (Jacob 5:31)

Behold, two hundred years had passed away, (Jarom 1:5)

Behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; (Mosiah 5:7)

Behold, this is the first time that priestcraft has been introduced among this people. (Alma 1:12)

Behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; (Alma 34:32)

Behold, this was a critical time for such contentions to be among the people of Nephi; (Alma 51:9)

For behold, in the twenty and sixth year, I, Helaman, did march at the head of these two thousand young men to the city of Judea, (Alma 56:9)

Behold, this is the twenty and ninth year, (Alma 58:38)

Behold, four hundred years have passed away since the coming of our Lord and Savior. (Mormon 8:6)

In the following examples, behold is used to point to an event or state of affairs:

Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, (1 Nephi 17:47)

Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; (2 Nephi 4:16)

Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; (Mosiah 20:14)

Behold, our flocks are scattered already. (Alma 17:28)

Behold, my brother and brethren are in prison at Middoni, (Alma 20:3)

Behold, my joy is full, (Alma 26:11)

Behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, (Alma 34:28)

Father, behold our God is with us, (Alma 56:46)

Behold, your judge is murdered, and he lieth in his blood; (Helaman 8:27)

Behold, your days of probation are past; (Helaman 13:38)

Behold, my time is at hand. (3 Nephi 17:1)

Behold, my father hath made this record, (Mormon 8:5)

Behold, elders, priests, and teachers were baptized; (Moroni 6:1)

Behold, my son, I cannot recommend them unto God lest he should smite me. (Moroni 9:21)

The deictic use of behold is particularly clear in those places where the entire speech is given (3 Nephi 17:1). The example from Alma 56:46, where the vocative “Father” precedes the deictic expression, shows that it is not always clear what the behold preceding a vocative should refer to; it could point to either the individual or the state of affairs.

Unexpected effects

The Book of Mormon also uses behold to highlight unexpected effects or events. In these cases, the narrative would lead to a certain set of expectations, and behold serves to highlight the contrast.

And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance. (1 Nephi 1:20)

If people are trying to kill someone, one does not expect that to lead to a tender mercy.

A few more days and I go the way of all the earth. But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell. (2 Nephi 1:14–15)

From the mortal perspective, once someone is dead, that is the end, the resurrection is not expected from that perspective.

And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good fruit, and cast them into the fire. But behold, the servant said unto him: Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it a little longer, that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit unto thee, that thou canst lay it up against the season. (Jacob 5:26–27)

One does not expect a servant to contradict his lord.

Were it not for this, all mankind must have perished. But behold, the bands of death shall be broken. (Mosiah 15:19–20)

The expectation is that death is the end. The resurrection is not expected from a mortal point of view.

And now, it came to pass in the twenty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, behold, when the Lamanites awoke on the first morning of the first month, behold, they found Amalickiah was dead in his own tent; and they also saw that Teancum was ready to give them battle on that day. (Alma 52:1)

The Lamanites were not expecting to wake up in the morning and find their king dead in the middle of an armed encampment.

And, supposing that their greatest strength was in the center of the land, therefore he did march forth, giving them no time to assemble themselves together save it were in small bodies; and in this manner they did fall upon them and cut them down to the earth. But behold, this march of Coriantumr through the center of the land gave Moronihah great advantage over them, notwithstanding the greatness of the number of the Nephites who were slain. (Helaman 1:24–25)

With Coriantumr marching through slaying everyone in sight, one does not expect that this would give his opponents an advantage.

It was Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take place. But behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites. (3 Nephi 4:17–18)

One does not expect that the besieged would necessarily have the military advantage in a siege.

And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people. But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin. (Mormon 2:12–13)

Mormon’s expectation that the Nephites would become righteous were disappointed.

Whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account. But behold, I give not the full account, but a part of the account I give. (Ether 1:4–5)

The reader might have hoped that Moroni would give a fuller account, but all she will get is an abridgment.

My son, I cannot recommend them unto God lest he should smite me. But behold, my son, I recommend thee unto God. (Moroni 9:21–22)

With his people so wicked that he cannot recommend them to God, one might expect a blanket condemnation by Mormon, and yet, there are exceptions.

Modifying a proposition

The Book of Mormon uses behold to indicate a statement that modifies (in the way an adjective modifies a noun) a previous statement. It can reenforce it or clarify the contents or the implications of the sentence. It can also modify a following statement. The following are examples.

Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision. And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of Nephi and also of Sam; for I have reason to suppose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved. But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you; for behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness. (1 Nephi 8:2–4)

This example gives four uses of behold. The first appears to draw attention to the speaker, which is a deictic function. The third points to those addressed. The second and fourth modify the statement about the dream or vision that Lehi has seen.

How merciful the Lord had been in warning us that we should flee out of the land of Jerusalem. For, behold, said he, I have seen a vision, in which I know that Jerusalem is destroyed; and had we remained in Jerusalem we should also have perished. (2 Nephi 1:3–4)

In this case the word behold marks the explanation of why the Lord had been merciful in having Lehi’s group flee Jerusalem and suffer for eight years in the wilderness and additionally through all the hazards of their sea voyage. These sufferings would ordinarily not seem to indicate that the Lord was being merciful to Lehi’s family, but using behold to mark the explanation that the Lord has been merciful to them because they are still alive and that had they remained they would not have been.

But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity. (Jacob 2:23)

The sentence marked off by behold explains why Jacob felt so burdened by the revelation he had received from God.

But behold, my brethren, ye can go to the other plates of Nephi; for behold, upon them the records of our wars are engraven. (Jarom 1:14)

The first behold serves as a deictic marker pointing to Jarom’s audience. The second behold explains why his audience might want to consult the other plates.

And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King! (Mosiah 2:19)

This is an example of the statement following behold modifying, that is explaining the statement that follows it rather than the one preceding it. In this instance the conditional clause, which explains the exhortation, comes before it in the text.

Now, if king Amalickiah had come down out of the land of Nephi, at the head of his army, perhaps he would have caused the Lamanites to have attacked the Nephites at the city of Ammonihah; for behold, he did care not for the blood of his people. (Alma 49:10)

The sentence after behold explains why Amalickiah might have attacked the city of Ammonihah if he had been with them.

There began to be a serious difficulty among the people of the Nephites. For behold, Pahoran had died. (Helaman 1:1–2)

The reason for the serious difficulty is explained by the following statement, which is marked by behold.

Yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us—not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance. And behold, I swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye shall not be destroyed. (3 Nephi 3:7–8)

In this passage, Giddianhi demands that Lachoneus surrender, and the reasons for doing so are marked by behold.

There have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people. And behold, ye shall take the plates of Nephi unto yourself. (Mormon 1:3–4)

In this text, Ammaron tells Mormon the location of a deposit of records and uses behold to explain why he wants Mormon to know this information.

The winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth. And behold, I prepare you against these things. (Ether 2:24–25)

In this passage, the Lord tells the brother of Jared about a situation and prefaces his explanation of why the brother of Jared needs to know these things with behold.

If he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing. For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness. (Moroni 7:6–7)

Mormon lays out the reasons why offering something to God might not be profitable for a person, and behold marks the explanation.

One particular example of this modifying function of behold deserves some analysis, because its interpretation has been the subject of dispute:8

And after I had made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord. Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a record upon the other plates, which gives an account, or which gives a greater account of the wars and contentions and destructions of my people. And this have I done, and commanded my people what they should do after I was gone; and that these plates should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until further commandments of the Lord. And an account of my making these plates shall be given hereafter; and then, behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken; and this I do that the more sacred things may be kept for the knowledge of my people. (1 Nephi 19:3–5)

After a lengthy explanation of why he has made two sets of plates, what their purposes are, how they are supposed to be used, and why future generations should follow his directives, Nephi states his own intent to follow the plan he has made of putting the secular matters on one set of plates and the spiritual matters on the other and uses behold to mark how his intended execution complements (modifies in the sense of an adjective) the instructions that he has laid out.

As a textual break?

These categories might not exhaust all the ways that behold is used in the Book of Mormon, but they provide a framework to explain many of the uses. From these examples and uses, we can see that the term behold is used to structure the flow of the narrative within the narrative and not, like and now to divide the narrative into smaller units.9 As previously noted, there are ten places where the 1830 Book of Mormon uses behold to begin a chapter. The question thus arises of why behold is used in places where it might appear to mark a break in the text. We will consider each of these ten instances that might at first appear to be outliers.

1. In 2 Nephi 5:1, the chapter begins with, “Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi.” The text follows “Amen” in the previous chapter. As has been shown,10 32% of the original chapter breaks in the 1830 Book of Mormon end in “Amen.” Thus, amen marks the textual break rather than behold.

2. Jacob begins his book with, “For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem” (Jacob 1:1). The title and colophon precede this clause and the previous book had ended with amen.11

3. Enos likewise starts his book, “Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos” (Enos 1:1). Enos has a title, but no colophon.

4. Omni also begins his book with, “Behold, it came to pass that I, Omni” (Omni 1:1). Omni’s book also has a title but no colophon. Later in the book, Abinadom begins his record with, “Behold, I, Abinadom, am the son of Chemish” (Omni 1:10). Amaleki also begins his record the same way: “Behold, I am Amaleki, the son of Abinadom” (Omni 1:12). These last two indicate that the use of behold in all of these beginnings can be taken to be deictic, pointing out the new individual writing.

5. Alma 7:1 is the beginning of a speech, but the header begins the chapter as is clear from the printer’s manuscript.12 In the speech to the people of Gideon, Alma uses behold to point out his audience: “Behold my beloved brethren” (Alma 7:1).

6. In Alma 23:1, behold is used to shift the focus of the narrative. The verse ending the previous chapter stated, “And now I, after having said this, return again to the account of Ammon and Aaron, Omner and Himni, and their brethren” (Alma 22:35). The account then begins with a shift of perspective: “Behold, now it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites sent a proclamation among all his people” (Alma 23:1). This is one of six instances where behold precedes now, where the order is usually the other way.

7–10. The same thing happens in all the other passages where behold begins a chapter in the 1830 Book of Mormon (Alma 30:1, 45:1, 61:1; Helaman 7:1). This is an unusual variant, but it might be that behold is being used as a deictic to point out the temporal phrase now, which is used to signal a major break in the narrative.

Of the ten chapters in the 1830 Book of Mormon that begin with behold, six of them seem to point out temporal phrases and four groups of people. All of them seem to be used in a deictic fashion, so none of them seem exceptions to the rule. Additionally, four follow a terminal amen, seven follow headers, and one follows the close of a letter. The terminal endings are stronger indicators of a chapter break than the use of behold.

Hebrew Antecedents

In Isaiah passages in the Book of Mormon, behold always translates the Hebrew word hinnēh (2 Nephi 17:14 = Isaiah 7:14; 2 Nephi 18:7 = Isaiah 8:7; 2 Nephi 22:2 = Isaiah 12:2; 2 Nephi 23:9 = Isaiah 13:9; 2 Nephi 23:17 = Isaiah 13:17).

“Despite considerable attention by scholars of Biblical Hebrew, the meaning and uses of hinnēh are not well understood.”13 Some think that “hnh is deictic.”14 Others think that it “is employed to allow the reader to view the scene through the eyes of the character.”15 Still others think that hinnēh is used to express mirativity, that is “the linguistic marking for indicating that the information conveyed is new or unexpected to the speaker.”16 There appears to be no difference in usage between behold and and behold in Hebrew usage.17

The following uses of the term hinnēh “behold” are notable:

1. To point out an entity (8%), a location (2.8%), a time, or an event or state of affairs (29%).18

2. To point out the unexpected cognitive effects of an observation on a character (whether the speaker or someone else) (25%).19

3. To point to a proposition that needs to be related to another proposition either preparing for or modifying it (26%).20

From the examples given,21 it is not clear that the use of hinnēh in preparing for a proposition is either functionally or otherwise different from pointing out a situation or state of affairs. Thus, the real point is that hinnēh “points to information (i.e., propositional content) which a speaker or narrator regards to be newsworthy as far as other discourse active propositions are concerned. The information presented modifies the content or implicatures of statements in the preceding co-text.”22

None of these functions mark a necessary break in the text.

The Ugaritic cognate, hn, is used for emphasizing part of a sentence or an entire sentence.23 The earlier Semitic use of hnny was “to open the section where [the letter sender] provides news of his circumstances.”24 “the expression introduced by hnny, denotes the situation as at present, whereas the wishes, like the expression introduced by ṯmny, are set in the future.”25

The Egyptian expression mk is also complicated, indicating some sort of emphasis,26 but this expression had largely disappeared by Lehi’s time.27

Joseph Smith’s Usage

Some have argued that “maybe Joseph Smith, acting as translator—really liked the word ‘behold.’”28 This can easily be shown not to be the case. The Z score for the use of behold in the Book of Mormon is 2.814, which is the number of standard deviations above the mean that the word behold is used in the Book of Mormon. In contrast, the Z score for the use of behold in Joseph Smith’s early writings29 is 0.162. Joseph Smith’s use of behold is about average, while the Book of Mormon’s use of behold is more than two standard deviations above average. Thus, the Book of Mormon is very frequent in its use of behold, but Joseph Smith was not.

If we look at Joseph Smith’s usage of behold in his early writings (1829–1833), 44.4% of the time he is using the word behold as a verb, which is significantly more than the 26.0% of the instances in the Book of Mormon that are verbal.

In this corpus, we find the following similarities:

- Deictic usage pointing to a person:

behold I am the Lord of glory.30

- Deictic usage pointing to a thing:

behold this is an exsample.31
and behold the thaughts of home of Emma and Julia rushes upon my mind like a flood.32

- Deictic usage pointing to a situation:

for behold the dethronement and deposition of the kings in the eastern continent,—the whirlwinds in the West India Islands, it has destroyed a number of vessels, uprooted buildings and strewed them in the air.33

Behold the prophecies of the Book of Mormon are fulfilling as fast as time can bring it about.34

<behold> the world lieth in sin and at this time and none doeth good no not one.35
behold and lo I come quickly as it [is] written of me in the cloud <clothed> in the glory of my Father.36

- Expressing surprise at something unexpected:

behold the angel appeared unto me again and said unto me.37

- Modifying a proposition:

and it came to pass when I was seventeen years of age I called again upon the Lord and he shewed unto me a heavenly vision for behold an angel of the Lord came and stood before me.38

In his own writings, Joseph Smith used behold more narrowly than the Book of Mormon. His 1832 History, which consciously imitated the Book of Mormon, contains as many examples as his letters. All of the examples, however, come closely clustered together on two pages of a six-page history. They are sparked by remembering what God had said to him and disappear after his encounter with the angel. Where the Book of Mormon contains 1,213 examples in 531 printed pages for 2.28 uses per page, Joseph Smith’s 1832 History contains 5 examples in 7 printed pages for 0.71 uses per page, about a third as much, and this is when Joseph Smith is consciously imitating the Book of Mormon.39

Conclusions

The English Book of Mormon was originally without punctuation marks. These were added by later editors. That does not, however, mean that it was without punctuation. Like most ancient texts, it had a system of verbal punctuation: words and phrases that structured the narrative instead of typographic marks.

In the Book of Mormon, the term behold is used as verbal punctuation to either point to something (a person, group of persons, thing, location, time, or situation) or to mark sentences or clauses as modifying another statement or to emphasize the unexpected effects of the narrative. The term behold in the Book of Mormon does not usually mark a major break in the narrative. In those places where its use coincides with a major break in the text, it seems to serve a deictic function and there are other indicators which more strongly indicate a break. The Book of Mormon’s usage aligns with the Hebrew Bible’s usage but does not align with Joseph Smith’s usage.

Understanding the verbal punctuation in the Book of Mormon starts with examining actual usage. While the Book of Mormon’s use of verbal punctuation does support its claim to be an ancient record, knowledge of the verbal punctuation in the Book of Mormon is more useful in understanding the Book of Mormon itself.

John Gee is the William (Bill) Gay Research Professor in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University. He has authored more than 150 publications on topics such as ancient scripture, Aramaic, archaeology, Coptic, Egyptian, history, linguistics, Luwian, rhetoric, Sumerian, textual criticism, and published in journals such as Bibliotheca Orientalis, British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan, Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar, BYU Studies, Enchoria, Ensign, FARMS Review, Göttinger Miszellen, The International Journal of Levant Studies, Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy, Journal of Academic Perspectives, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Journal of Egyptian History, Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, Lingua Aegyptia, Review of Biblical Literature, Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur, and Interpreter, and by such presses as American University of Cairo Press, Archaeopress, Association Égyptologique Reine Élisabeth, E. J. Brill, Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies, Czech Institute of Egyptology, Deseret Book, Franco Cosimo Panini, de Gruyter, Harrassowitz, Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, Macmillan, Routledge, Oxford University Press, Peeters, Praeger, Religious Studies Center, and Society of Biblical Literature. He has published five books and has edited eight books and an international multilingual peer-reviewed professional journal. He served twice as a section chair for the Society of Biblical Literature.

1 . John Gee, “Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon I: (And) Now,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 50 (2022): 35–37, journal.interpreterfoundation.org/verbal-punctuation-in-the-book-of
-mormon-i-and-now/.

2 . John Gee, “Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon II—Nevertheless,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 57 (2023): 195–98, journal.interpreterfoundation.org/verbal-punctuation-in-the-book-of
-mormon-ii-nevertheless/.

3 . Gee, “Verbal Punctuation,” 36–37.

4 . Royal Skousen, The History of the Text of the Book of Mormon, Part One: Grammatical Variation (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies [FARMS] 2016), 140.

5 . Skousen, Grammatical Variation, 140–44.

6 . Kent P. Jackson, “Behold I,” BYU Studies 44, no. 2 (2005): 169–75, scholars
archive.byu.edu/byusq/vol44/iss2/7/.

7 . Contrast Joseph Spencer, The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford, 2021), 1:51, with 1:216.

8 . Frederick W. Axelgard, “1 and 2 Nephi: An Inspiring Whole, BYU Studies 26, no. 4 (1986), 53–65, scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol26/iss4/4/; Joseph M. Spencer, An Other Testament: On Typology, (n.p.: Salt Press, 2016), 36, 39, and 42, scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi/8/. See also the response in Noel B. Reynolds, “On Doubting Nephi’s Break Between 1 and 2 Nephi: A Critique of Joseph Spencer’s An Other Testament: On Typology,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 25 (2017): 85–102, journal.interpreterfoundation.org/on
-doubting-nephis-break-between-1-and-2-nephi-a-critique-of-joseph
-spencers-an-other-testament-on-typology/.

9 . Gee, “Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon I,” 33–50.

10 . Gee, “Verbal Punctuation in the Book of Mormon I,” 36.

11 . The following comment by an anonymous reviewer (included with permission of the reviewer) is worth noting:

Supporting your position is that Jacob ends with “adieu.” While not exactly “amen,” this is an interesting word. It is similar to Spanish “adios” in that both words technically mean “to God” or “until God” and roughly mean “goodbye.” But “adios” is widely used as a temporary goodbye whereas no French person would ever use this word unless the goodbye were essentially permanent (almost always in death). They have other terms such as “à demain” (until tomorrow) or “à bientôt” (until very soon) or “à la prochaine” (until next time) or “au revoir” (until the re-see) but never “adieu” (until God). To do so would be very impolite, considered terrible luck, or even approaching a curse at worse. It is widely known that Americans at the time of Joseph Smith used this term, but they may not have known this nuance of the word and used it more like “adios.” However, in the case of Jacob 7:27, it is entirely fitting, as he is dying. In fact, it perfectly completes (provides the ending inclusio) for a tiny chiasm in verse 27. In this sense, then, “adieu” (unlike “goodbye” or “adios”) is a close match to “amen.”

12 . Royal Skousen, The Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2001), 1:420.

13 . Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé and C. H. J. van der Merwe, “Hinnēh and Mirativity in Biblical Hebrew,” Hebrew Studies 52 (2011): 53.

14 . Sandra Landis Gogel, A Grammar of Epigraphic Hebrew (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998), 230.

15 . Gary A. Rendsburg, How the Bible is Written (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2019), 411, et seq.; Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative (Sheffield, UK: Almond Press, 1983), 62–64.

16 . Miller-Naudé and van der Merwe, “Hinnēh and Mirativity,” 56–57.

17 . Dennis J. McCarthy, “The Uses of wehinnēh in Biblical Hebrew,” Biblica 61, no. 3 (1980): 330.

18 . Miller-Naudé and van der Merwe, “Hinnēh and Mirativity” 60–70; McCarthy, “The Uses of wehinnēh,” 336–39.

19 . Miller-Naudé and van der Merwe, “Hinnēh and Mirativity,” 60, 70–74; McCarthy, “The Uses of wehinnēh,” 332–33, 341–42.

20 . Miller-Naudé and van der Merwe, “Hinnēh and Mirativity,” 61, 74–79; McCarthy, “The Uses of wehinnēh,” 333–36, 337, 339–41.

21 . Miller-Naudé and van der Merwe, “Hinnēh and Mirativity,” 75–77.

22 . Miller-Naudé and van der Merwe, “Hinnēh and Mirativity,” 77.

23 . Kjell Aartun, Die Partikeln des Ugaritischen (Kevelaer, DE: Butzon & Bercker, 1974), 69–70.

24 . Jésus-Luis Cunchillow, “The Ugaritic Letters,” in Handbook of Ugaritic Studies, ed. Wilfred G. E. Watson and Nicolas Wyatt (Leiden, NL: E. J. Brill, 1999), 365.

25 . Cunchillow, “The Ugaritic Letters,” 365.

26 . Elsa Oréal, Les particules en égyptien ancien de l’ancien égyptien à l’égyptien classique (Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2011), 297–331.

27 . Karl Jansen-Winkeln, Spätmittelägyptsiche Grammatik der Texte der 3. Zwischenzeit (Wiesbaden, DE: Harrassowitz, 1996), 206–7.

28 . Spencer, Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology, 1:216.

29 . For which, see Stanford Carmack, “Personal Relative Pronoun Usage in the Book of Mormon: An Important Authorship Diagnostic,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 49 (2021): 10n15, journal
.interpreterfoundation.org/personal-relative-pronoun-usage-in-the-book-of
-mormon-an-important-authorship-diagnostic/.

30 . In this example, Joseph Smith is quoting God. “History, Circa Summer 1832,” The Joseph Smith Papers, Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832–1844 (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2012), 13, josephsmithpapers
.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/3.

31 . Joseph Smith, “Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Volume 2: July 1831–January 1833 (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2013), 265, josephsmithpapers.org/paper
-summary/letter-to-william-w-phelps-31-july-1832/4.

32 . Joseph Smith, “Letter to Emma Smith, 13 October 1832,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Volume 2, 312, josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary
/letter-to-emma-smith-13-october-1832/1.

33 . Joseph Smith, “Letter to the Church in Colesville, 2 December 1830,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Volume 1: July 1828–June 1831 (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2013), josephsmithpapers.org/paper
-summary/letter-to-the-church-in-colesville-2-december-1830/5.

34 . Joseph Smith, “Letter to the Church in Colesville, 2 December 1830,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Volume 1, 217, josephsmithpapers.org
/paper-summary/letter-to-the-church-in-colesville-2-december-1830/8.

35 . In this example, Joseph Smith is quoting God. Additionally, the word behold is added above the line. “History, Circa Summer 1832,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Histories, Volume 1, 13, josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary
/history-circa-summer-1832/3.

36 . In this example, Joseph Smith is quoting God. Additionally, the word behold is added above the line. “History, Circa Summer 1832,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Histories, Volume 1, 13, josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary
/history-circa-summer-1832/3.

37 . “History, Circa Summer 1832,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Histories, Volume 1, 14, josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/4.

38 . “History, Circa Summer 1832,” in The Joseph Smith Papers, Histories, Volume 1, 13–14, josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/4.

39 . See also, Stanford Carmack, “How Joseph Smith’s Grammar Differed from Book of Mormon Grammar: Evidence from the 1832 History,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 25 (2017): 239–59, journal.interpreterfoundation
.org/how-joseph-smiths-grammar-differed-from-book-of-mormon-grammar
-evidence-from-the-1832-history/.