2 Ne 4:16-20
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
The Book of Mormon > Second Nephi > Chapter 4
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Contents |
Questions
- vv. 17-18: Why does Nephi, of all people, grieve about his iniquities? What is the connection between seeing the goodness of the Lord and grieving about one’s iniquities? What does Nephi’s grief teach us? What iniquities might Nephi have had? Given the context, what sins might he have found particularly tempting? Do verses 13 and 27-29 suggest and answer to this question?
- v. 19: Here we see Nephi turn from grief, in the beginning of the verse, to hope, in the end. What does the change we see happening in this verse tell us about our own sorrows? Is sorrow or guilt bad? What is the difference between Nephi’s sorrow and harmful sorrow? Compare 2 Cor 7:10. What is the sorrow to death? When do we find ourselves in the kind of sorrow Nephi experiencing? If someone is experiencing the sorrow to death rather than the sorrow to life, how can that change?
- vv. 20-25: What things is Nephi grateful for? Can you draw specific parallels to the things we should be thankful for? Are these some of the “things of the Lord,” mentioned in v. 16? How does memory serve Nephi in this verse? How ought it to serve us?
Lexical notes
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- Verses 16 through 35 bear such a striking resemblance to the style and structure of the biblical poetic writings that the section is often referred to as the "Psalm of Nephi." For an analysis of similarities to Hebrew poetry, see the article by Steven Barton.
- Verses 16-17 open the first stanza of the Psalm of Nephi. The unit appears to be a series of 3 couplets organized in chiastic form.
A. Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord;
B. And my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.
C. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works,
c. My heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am!
b. Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh;
a. My soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
This chiasm is a good example of the tendency to contrast antithetical ideas when using chiastic form. Typically, the center point of a chiasm will be the point at which an opposite idea is introduced.
Hence,
- A. soul delighteth
- B. heart pondereth
- C. goodness of the Lord
is contrasted with:
- c. wretched man
- b. heart sorroweth
- a. soul grieveth
- Verses 18-20. If we ignore the arbitrary punctuation of Grandin and arrange the lines similar to a passage from the Psalms or Isaiah, the verses break out differently:
- I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me,
- And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins.
- Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted,
- My God hath been my support;
- He hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness,
- And he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
In some ways, the thought groupings and punctuation are stronger when arranged in this manner.
Exegesis
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Related links
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