First ever guest post on Sacred Symbolic:
Travis Washburn is my brother and a great friend. He has a bachelor’s degree in English, and studied Spanish extensively both in school and on his own. He served an English-speaking mission in the Arizona, Phoenix Mission, then later spent six months in Chile as an exchange student, where he honed his Spanish skills, among other adventures. He is currently working as a graphic designer and technical writer for Xennsoft. He’s also in the process of applying for grad school.
He recently shared with me something he was doing to enhance his scripture study. Just reading the result changed the way I see Alma 2. I’m going to incorporate the method that follows in my own study, and hope you will too. He’s shared with me some other great study material, so you may see more from him in the future.
Alma Chapter Two: in Modern Language
By Travis Washburn
This is an experimental scripture study. I don’t mean this to be a replacement of the original; I just want to understand the language better. Translating something makes you weigh each word and really think about what is meant. This is especially interesting when you remember that The Book of Mormon wasn’t written in English—the copy we read is a translation.
You might consider reading the actual verses alongside as you go (click here to open Alma Chapter 2 in a new window). I noticed a lot of things about the specific language. For example, although the enemies have “armies”, Alma doesn’t lead “armies”; he leads “his people”. And the Amlicites are fighting “their brethren”, a more serious offense than just fighting an enemy. Tev brought up the point that Joseph Smith must have had an extremely keen understanding of the text because of his translation efforts.
I also noticed Mormon’s role as historian—he copies details that don’t particularly drive the plot, and he repeats details one might initially think to be uninteresting or irrelevant. A careful look shows that the Nephites should have easily been defeated. Yet they miraculously conquer.
