The Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 10:4

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~AD 34

1830 Edition

O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, which are a descendant of Jacob; yea, which are of the house of Israel; O ye people of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.

Influences

Matthew 23:37 (KJV)
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Changes

O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, whicho are a descendants of Jacob;, yea, which are of the house of Israel; O ye peoplre of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.

Simple English

'You people of these great cities that have fallen—you who are children of Jacob, you who are from the house of Israel—how many times have I gathered you like a hen gathers her baby chicks under her wings? I have taken care of you.

Paraphrase

'You people of these fallen cities—descendants of Jacob, children of Israel—how many times have I gathered you like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings? How often have I cared for you and protected you?'

Notes

10:3-7

Contrast 3 Nephi 10:3-7 with Matt. 23:37.

The verbose and repetitive style of the Book of Mormon seems to reflect spontaneous dictation to a scribe rather than someone engraving each letter and word onto plates. Consider what Jacob, Nephi's brother, stated regarding the difficulty of engraving: "I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates" (Jacob 4:1).

Regarding 3 Nephi 10:3-7 specifically, Jerald and Sandra Tanner observe, "It looks like Joseph Smith made a mistake in dictating the first sentence in 3 Nephi 10:4 and then tried to correct it by restating in the passage again and again. Had God already gathered Israel 'as a hen gathereth her chickens' or was this something for the future? The rest of the section seems to be an effort to backtrack after the mistake of saying God had already gathered Israel." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 231.

"And it came to pass that there came a voice again unto the people, and all the people did hear, and did witness of it, saying: O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you. And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not. O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart. But if not, O house of Israel, the places of your dwellings shall become desolate until the time of the fulfilling of the covenant to your fathers." -3 Nephi 10:3-7.

See Alma 5:6; Ether 2:17; 2 Nephi 3:4-21; and 3 Nephi 16:8-15 as other examples of verbose repetition.