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Book of Mormon/Evidences/Hebraisms/Sami Hanna on the Book of Mormon: Difference between revisions
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At one time Elder Nelson had a neighbor named Sami | At one time Elder Nelson had a neighbor named Sami | ||
Hanna, who was an Arabic scholar and a member of the | Hanna, who was an Arabic scholar and a member of the | ||
Church. Based on his knowledge of Arabic, Sami | Church. Based on his knowledge of Arabic and his experience translating the Book of Mormon into Arabic, Sami | ||
thought there were numerous things in the Book of | thought there were numerous things in the Book of | ||
Mormon text that were consistent with a Semitic | Mormon text that were consistent with a Semitic | ||
original. | original of that book. | ||
Elder Nelson has alluded to Sami a few times in talks, | Elder Nelson has alluded to Sami a few times in talks, | ||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
friends who can read Hebrew. But he has never given a | friends who can read Hebrew. But he has never given a | ||
talk specifically on Sami. The internet article that | talk specifically on Sami. The internet article that | ||
circulates under his name | circulates under his name was not written by Elder Nelson. | ||
According to Sami's son, Sami left the Church some | According to Sami's son, Mark, Sami left the Church some | ||
time ago and is now some sort of a fundamentalist | time ago and is now some sort of a fundamentalist | ||
Christian. He now repudiates his former comments on | Christian. He now repudiates his former comments on | ||
the | the Book of Mormon. | ||
Such a repudiation is not, however, | Such a repudiation is not, however, terribly significant. | ||
Sami's material on the BoM was never a part of | Sami's material on the BoM was never a part of | ||
mainstream LDS scholarship on the subject. It was | mainstream LDS scholarship on the subject. It was | ||
Revision as of 18:07, 12 November 2005
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Question
I have read a talk written by Elder Russell M. Nelson where he talks about a friend of his who translates the Book of Mormon back into Aramaic. Is there a source for this talk? I would like to find it.
Answer
At one time Elder Nelson had a neighbor named Sami Hanna, who was an Arabic scholar and a member of the Church. Based on his knowledge of Arabic and his experience translating the Book of Mormon into Arabic, Sami thought there were numerous things in the Book of Mormon text that were consistent with a Semitic original of that book.
Elder Nelson has alluded to Sami a few times in talks, as he has to others of his extensive network of friends who can read Hebrew. But he has never given a talk specifically on Sami. The internet article that circulates under his name was not written by Elder Nelson.
According to Sami's son, Mark, Sami left the Church some time ago and is now some sort of a fundamentalist Christian. He now repudiates his former comments on the Book of Mormon.
Such a repudiation is not, however, terribly significant. Sami's material on the BoM was never a part of mainstream LDS scholarship on the subject. It was linguistically naive in a number of important respects. For the details, see this link:
http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=49
The material relating to Hanna starts about halfway down.
There is an extensive literature dealing with Hebraisms in the BoM. A good place to start would be with John Tvedtnes, "Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A Preliminary Survey," BYU Studies 11/1 (Autumn 1970): 50-60, available online here:
<http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/docviewer.exe?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=21932&CISOSHOW=2997>
Endnotes
None
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide: