The Book of Mormon

3 Nephi 10:5

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~AD 34

1830 Edition

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, which 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.

Influences

Acts 2:14 (KJV)
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
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

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, whicho 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.

Simple English

How many times have I wanted to gather you like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings? You people of the house of Israel who have fallen—you who live in Jerusalem—how many times did I want to gather you like a hen gathers her chicks? But you would not let me.

Paraphrase

'How many times have I tried to gather you, the way a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings? You people of Israel who have fallen, you who lived in Jerusalem and are now destroyed—how often I wanted to gather you, but you refused me.'

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.