One Response to “What language was the Book of Mormon written in?”
Webmaster de AllAboutMormons.com
2008-03-16 21:19:46
Hi friend. No one knows much about the language used to write the Book of Mormon. There's a lot of evidence that the language spoken by the peoples described in the Book of Mormon was Hebrew. There are, for example, more than 1,000 words in the Uto-Aztecan language of Central America that are apparently derived from Hebrew. Additionally, there are many Hebrew poetic forms (chiasmus) and common Hebrew phrases in the Book of Mormon. According to the Book of Mormon itself, the book was written using an alphabet called "Reformed Egyptian." No one knows exactly which ancient alphabet corresponds to "Reformed Egyptian." However, there are many examples of reformed Egyptian alphabets, including the Hieratic and Demotic alphabets.
Complicating the question even further is the fact that the Book of Mormon was summarized from ancient records in the 5th century A.D., but the people described in the book arrived in the Americas in the 7th century B.C. It is almost certain that the language originally spoken and written by the Book of Mormon peoples changed a lot during these 1,000 years, probably mixing with the native languages of the other peoples that then inhabited the American continent.
Complicating the question even further is the fact that the Book of Mormon was summarized from ancient records in the 5th century A.D., but the people described in the book arrived in the Americas in the 7th century B.C. It is almost certain that the language originally spoken and written by the Book of Mormon peoples changed a lot during these 1,000 years, probably mixing with the native languages of the other peoples that then inhabited the American continent.