Question: Does Gilbert Hunt's book ''The Late War'' contain rare phrases that do not appear in other works but only appear in the Book of Mormon?

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Question: Does Gilbert Hunt's book The Late War contain rare phrases that do not appear in other works but only appear in the Book of Mormon?

Chris and Duane Johnson claim the following regarding certain phrases found in Gilbert Hunt's The Late War:

These phrases are rare—meaning that they are not found in other contemporary books of Joseph's time, and that they are not found in the King James Version of the bible. The strength of the argument that The Book of Mormon is a remix of The Late War rests on the cumulative improbability of finding all of these phrases somewhere else. No other book, aside from The First Book of Napoleon, approaches the density of rare phrases (4grams, specifically) that are shared by The Book of Mormon.

Question: Is the phrase "a mock and a bye-word among all nations" in Gilbert Hunt's The Late War a "rare phrase"?

The critics note that "These phrases are rare—meaning that they are not found in other contemporary books of Joseph's time, and that they are not found in the King James Version of the bible"

Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, ""A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/

In order to make this a "rare phrase," the critics note that "mock" is synonymous with "hiss," and removed "and be hated" from the Book of Mormon

• The Late War 2:9: "a mock and a bye-word among all nations"
• Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 19:14: "a hiss and a by-word, and be hated among all nations"

The core phrase "a byword, among all nations" is not rare

• Deuteronomy 28:37: "a byword, among all nations"
• 2 Chronicles 7:20: "a byword among all nations"

If we expand the definition, as the critics did, to include synonymous words "nations," "heathen," and "people,"we find several other instances of the phrase

• Psalms 44:14: "a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people"
• Job 17:6: "a byword of the people"
• 1 Kings 9:7: "a byword among all people"

Question: Is the phrase "he hearkened unto the counsel of the wicked one" in Gilbert Hunt's The Late War a "rare phrase"?

The critics note that "These phrases are rare—meaning that they are not found in other contemporary books of Joseph's time, and that they are not found in the King James Version of the bible"

Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, ""A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/

In order to make this a "rare phrase," the critics note that "counsel" is synonymous with "words," and "the wicked one" is synonymous with "Laman" and "evil one"

• The Late War 3:33-34: "he hearkened unto the counsel of the wicked one"
• Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 3:28: "he hearkened unto the words of Laman"
• Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 9:28: "evil one...hearken not unto the counsel of God"

The core phrase "hearken unto the" or "hearken unto the words" is not rare

• Jeremiah 37:2: "hearken unto the words of the Lord"
• Deuteronomy 13:3: "hearken unto the words of that prophet"

The core phrase "unto the counsel" does not occur in the Bible

The unique core phrase is "unto the counsel," which does appear in both The Late War and the Book of Mormon. the phrase does appear in "The Summons of the Lord of Hosts" in the Bahai Reference Library, "Tablet to Queen Victoria"

O ye rulers of the earth! Wherefore have ye clouded the radiance of the Sun, and caused it to cease from shining? Hearken unto the counsel given you by the Pen of the Most High, that haply both ye and the poor may attain unto tranquillity and peace. We beseech God to assist the kings of the earth to establish peace on earth. He, verily, doth what He willeth.

If we expand the definition, as the critics did, to include synonymous words "counsel" and "words" with "prayer," "commandments," "voice," and "cry," we find several other instances of the phrase

• 1 Kings 8:28: "hearken unto the cry and to the prayer"
• 2 Chronicles 6:19: "hearken unto the cry and the prayer"
• Judges 3:4: "hearken unto the commandments of the Lord"
• Psalms 5:2: "Hearken unto the voice of my cry"
• Deuteronomy 15:5: hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God"
• Deuteronomy 30:10: "hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God"
• Deuteronomy 28:13: hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God"
• 1 Kings 8:29: "hearken unto the prayer"
• Deuteronomy 28:15: "hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God"
• 2 Chronicles 6:20: "hearken unto the prayer"
• Deuteronomy 17:12: "hearken unto the priest"

Notes