El Libro de Mormón/Anacronismos/Idioma/"Adieu"

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Critica

Jacob 7:27 finaliza con la frase, "Hermanos, adieu." Los criticos claman que porque la palabra adieu es Francesa, demuestra que Jose Smith compuso el libro de Mormon, y no un escritor antiguo.

Fuente(s)de la critica

  • John Ankerberg y John Weldon, Todo lo que usted desea saber sobre el mormonismo (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1992), 322.
  • Ed Decker, Completo Manual de Mormonismo por Decker (Eugene: Harvest House, 1995), 113.
  • James White, Cartas a un Elder mormon (Southbridge, MA: Crowne, 1990), 145.

Respuesta

Hay por lo menos 3 problemas con la palabra adieu como argumento en contra del Libro de Mormon.

  1. Los criticos a menudo pasan por alto el hecho de que la palabra adieu no estaba en las planchas.
  2. El traductor de una obra puede usar palabras de cualquier idioma que el escoja para transmitir el significado del texto a sus lectores, aun si la palabra adieu habia sido una palabra extranjera (Ejemplo, Francesa) para Jose Smiyh,no hay nada inusual o problematico con su eleccion de esta palabra en su traduccion.
  3. Los criticos erroneamente piensan que la palabra adieu no es una palabra Inglesa.

Ni Ingles ni Frances se hallaban en las planchas

El Libro de Mormon en Ingles es una traduccion. Esto quiere decir que no es mayor la posibilidad de que la palabra adieu apareciera en las planchas que las palabras si, comienzo, o espada. Excepto por los nombres propios y otros nombres nombres posiblemente trnasliterados, ninguna palabra que aparece en la version en Ingles del Libro de Mormon se puede decir que se encontraban en las planchas de metal de los nefitas. Similarmente la frase "Y acontecio" nunca aparecio en ninguna parte de las planchas Nefitas. Cualquier calumnia, palabra o frase que haya sido gravada en las planchas fueron traducidas por Jose smith en lo que el sintio que era el equivalente apropiado en Ingles.

Despite the fact that the word adieu appears in the English translation of the Book of Mormon, the word adieu was certainly not known to any Book of Mormon writer, the word adieu was never used by any Book of Mormon writer, and the word adieu did not appear anywhere on the Nephite plates.

A translation can legitimately use words from many languages

The goal of a translation is to take a text written in one language and to make it understandable to someone who does not understand that language. Anyone who has had the need to translate knows that frequently there is no way to convey all of the meanings, nuances, and subtleties of the original text in the new language. Translators are free to select words and phrases that they feel best convey the original meaning and will best be understood by the readers of the translation.

For example, it would be perfectly acceptable for a translation from Japanese to English to include the non-English phrases ad hoc, hoi polloi, or savoir faire if those phrases seem to properly convey the original meaning and if the translator believes that readers will understand them.

Adieu is Joseph's translation of a concept expressed by Jacob. Adieu implies "farewell until we meet with God," a fitting finale to Jacob's testimony and writing.

The appearance of non-English words (if there are any) in the Book of Mormon has absolutely no bearing on whether the Book of Mormon is authentic or whether the translation was properly done, and the presence of non-English words in the translated text would not imply that those non-English words appeared in the original text on the Nephite plates.

Adieu is an English word

There is a common misunderstanding among some critics of the Book of Mormon that the word adieu is not an English word. This is not true. The problem stems from the fact that adieu is both an English word and a French word, and most English speakers are more familiar with its use in a French context.

Adieu is a perfectly good English word that has appeared in English dictionaries, English literature, and in common English usage from long before Joseph Smith to the present. Adieu entered the English language in the 14th century. It entered from Middle French, not modern French, and it has been part of English for approximately 800 years. Adieu has been part of the English language longer than the word banquet, which is also a word in modern French, but banquet entered the English language only in the 15th century. Adieu is no less English than commence, nation, psychology, Bible, vision, or any other word that can be traced back to Latin, Greek, German, French, Spanish, or any other language.

The presence of adieu is no more a challenge to the historicity and authenticity of the Book of Mormon than the 36 uses of banquet in the NIV is a challenge to the historicity and authenticity of the Bible.

French at the time of Christ?

In 1737, William Whiston (1667-1752) produced a translation of The Life of Flavius Josephus, written by a Jew born in Jerusalem in A.D. 37. Whiston's translation reads, in part:

Thus have I set down the genealog of my family as I have found it described in the public records, and so bid adieu to those who calumniate me... off-site (Inglés)

Presumably, the critics would have us believe that Whiston is claiming that Josephus, a first century Jew, spoke French (a language not yet invented) because he uses the term adieu?

Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is nothing if not an English writer. He uses adieu frequently in his plays:

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5
GHOST:Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me. off-site (Inglés)
The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene 3
LAUNCELOT Adieu! tears exhibit my tongue. Most beautiful/ pagan, most sweet Jew! off-site (Inglés)
Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5
ROMEO: Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu! off-site (Inglés)
The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 2, Scene 1
NYM: Adieu. I love not the humour of bread and cheese,/ and there's the humour of it. Adieu.

There are over a hundred other examples. off-site (Inglés)

The Declaration of Independence

A segment of the fourth page of Thomas Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence (original in Library of Congress). The red line indicates where Jefferson has written "everlasting Adieu," which he later struck out and replaced with the text underlined in green, "eternal separation." *

Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence read, in part (beginning shown in image by blue underline):

...be it so, since they will have it: the road to glory & happiness is open to us too; we will climb it in a separate state, and acquiesce in the necessity which pronounces our everlasting Adieu![1]

Jefferson later crossed out "everlasting Adieu," and replaced it with "eternal separation."[2]

Dictionaries

Noah Webster's 1828 American dictionary demonstrates that adieu was perfectly good English the year prior to the Book of Mormon's translation:

ADIEU', Adu'.

Farewell; an expression of kind wishes at the parting of friends.

ADIEU', n. A farewell, or commendation to the care of God; as an everlasting adieu.

It should be noted that the word adieu appears in nearly every modern English dictionary, and that although its etymology may be listed as being from Middle French, the word itself is not indicated as being a non-English word.

John and Charles Wesley

The Wesley brothers, founders of Methodism, used adieu in some of their hymns:

Hymn 285
I'll bid this world of noise and show/ With all its glittering snares, adieu! off-site (Inglés)
Hymn 809
VAIN, delusive world, adieu... off-site (Inglés)[3]

Furthermore, John Wesley was fond of adieu, using it many times in his personal letters. A few examples follow; more are available off-site (Inglés)

5 January 1763 to Charles Wesley
"We join in love to you both. My wife gains ground. She is quite peaceable and loving to all. Adieu!" off-site (Inglés)
17 May 1742 to Charles Wesley
Let all the brethren pray for me. Adieu! off-site (Inglés)
15 December 1772 to Charles Wesley
My love to all. Adieu! off-site (Inglés)
16 December 1772 to Mrs. Bennis
My dear sister, adieu off-site (Inglés)

Irenaeus - French in the 1st Century?

Speaking after quoting Deuteronomy 33:9, the early Christian author Irenaeus (A.D. 115–202) had his ancient writings translated as follows:

But who are they that have left father and mother, and have said adieu to all their neighbours, on account of the word of God and His covenant, unless the disciples of the Lord?[4]

Is this a legitimate translation, or was Irenaeus non-existent and the translator a fraud for using "adieu"?

Use Among LDS Members

Index page from the 1835 book of hymns chosen by Emma Smith for use in the Church. Original from BYU library. off-site (Inglés)

Closer to home, hymn #52 (penned by a non-LDS author) was collected by Emma Smith for the use of the Church. In this hymn, adieu is used twice in the first line:

Adieu, my dear brethren adieu,
Reluctant we give you the hand,
No more to assemble with you,
Till we on mount Zion shall stand.[5]

Clearly, this was a word familiar to Joseph and his contemporaries. The Church's the Times and Seasons periodical used the word 19 times.

Use Among Non-LDS Contemporaries

Emma Smith's second husband, Lewis Bidamon, was certainly not LDS. His letters reveal that his spelling is not terribly sophisticated. Yet, even he was very comfortable using the phrase "adieu," as in this letter to Emma:

Adeau, dear Emma, for the present. Give my warmest affections to the children and all inquireing friends, and curses to my enmeys![6]

Conclusion

Adieu is simply one English word among many in the Book of Mormon translation. It was in common use among Latter-day Saints and others in Joseph's era. Critics hope to cause confusion simply because the word's French associations are more familiar to the general reader and because the critics can misrepresent the nature of translated works to people who don't carefully consider what the critics are asserting. In the final analysis, the presence of the word "adieu" in the English translation of the Book of Mormon cannot be construed to indicate anything beyond the fact that Jacob intended to communicate "farewell forever, or until we meet God."

Endnotes

  1. [back]  Thomas Jefferson, "original Rough draght," The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1:1760-1776 (Princeton University Press, 1950), 423–428. off-site (Inglés)
  2. [back]  Editorial Note, "Jefferson's 'original Rough draught,' of the Declaration of Independence," (Princeton University Press, 2004), 6, footnote 16. off-site (Inglés)
  3. [back]  John Wesley, A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Book Room, 1889 [1780]), #285, #809.
  4. [back]  Irenaeus, "Against Heresies," in book 4 chap. 8 Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Philip Schaff (Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886)1:471. ANF ToC off-site (Inglés) This volume
  5. [back] Emma Smith, A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints Hymn 52, (Kirtland, Ohio: F. G. Williams & co., 1835), 68.
  6. [back]  Lewis Bidamon to Emma Smith Bidamon, 20 April 1850, RLDS Archives; cited in Plantilla:ME2 1 Spelling as original, italics added.

Best articles to read next

El mejor artículo (s) para leer el siguiente en este tema es / son:

  1. "How is it that the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob ends his account with the French word 'adieu'?", farms.byu.edu (accessed 14 June 2006). off-site (Inglés)
  2. Jeff Lindsay, "Why does the Book of Jacob end with a French word?", lightplanet.com (accessed 14 June 2006). off-site (Inglés)
  3. Edward J. Brandt, "Why are the words adieu, bible, and baptize in the Book of Mormon? These words weren't known in Book of Mormon times," Ensign (October 1985), 17. off-site (Inglés)

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Libro de Mormón "Anacronismos"

FAIR web site

  • FAIR Topical Guide: Book of Mormon Textual Issues FAIR link

External links

  • "How is it that the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob ends his account with the French word 'adieu'?", farms.byu.edu (accessed 14 June 2006). off-site (Inglés)
  • Jeff Lindsay, "Why does the Book of Jacob end with a French word?", lightplanet.com (accessed 14 June 2006). off-site (Inglés)
  • Edward J. Brandt, "Why are the words adieu, bible, and baptize in the Book of Mormon? These words weren't known in Book of Mormon times," Ensign (October 1985), 17. off-site (Inglés)

Printed material

  • Daniel C. Peterson, "Is the Book of Mormon True? Notes on the Debate," in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds, (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1997), Chapter 6. ISBN 093489325X ISBN 0934893187 ISBN 0884944697. off-site (Inglés) GL direct link
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