Mormon Interpreter Foundation

Abstract: This paper describes and compares the Book of Mormon’s 12 instances of complex finite cause syntax, the structure exemplified by the language of Ether 9:33: “the Lord did cause the serpents that they should pursue them no more.” This is not King James language or currently known to be pseudo-archaic language (language used by modern authors seeking […]

  You can listen to or download the November 14th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Terry Hutchinson, John Gee and Kevin Christensen. In this episode, our hosts discussed the 20th anniversary of Kevin’s important paper Paradigms Regained. The […]

  You can listen to or download the November 7th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye and Hales Swift. In this episode, our hosts discussed the The Family: A Proclamation to the World. The second […]

It seems unlikely that the Book of Mormon could have so many names that can be traced to ancient Semitic and Egyptian, and for those ancient meanings to form wordplays and other connections with the text itself. There’s been a substantial amount of faithful scholarship looking at the dozens of unique personal and geographic names in the Book of Mormon, scholarship that purports to find a large number of interesting connections with Semitic and Egyptian languages.

  You can listen to or download the October 31st broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Terry Hutchinson and Martin Tanner. In this episode, our hosts discussed a list of the best books on scripture and religion. The second […]

During 1978, 1979, and 1980, Hugh Nibley taught a Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School class. Cassette recordings were made of these classes and some have survived and were recently digitized by Steve Whitlock. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don’t stop or start at the beginning of the […]

This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 49, “The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead” on D&C 137-138. The panelists for this roundtable were Steve Densley and Mark Johnson. This roundtable was extracted from the October 24th broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete show may be heard […]

D&C 137 “The Heavens Were Opened Upon Us” Joseph Smith’s oldest brother Alvin had been enthusiastic about the visits of the angel Moroni and encouraged Joseph to be faithful in order to obtain the plates from which Joseph was to translate the Book of Mormon. But Alvin died at age 25 in November 1823, only […]

Abstract: In this fascinating article, Jeff Bradshaw details how the Book of Moses might be understood as a temple text, including elements of temple architecture, furnishings, and ritual in the story of the Creation and the Fall. Bradshaw shows how the second half of the Book of Moses follows a general pattern of a specific […]

Abstract: Following the discovery of delocutive verbs and their likely usage in the Hebrew Bible, Meredith Kline proposed that the verb האמין (he’emin) in Genesis 15:6 — traditionally interpreted as a denominative verb meaning “he believed” — should be understood as a delocutive verb meaning “he declared ‘amen.’” Rather than reading Genesis 15:6 as a passive statement — Abraham believed […]

It seems unlikely that Book of Mormon place names would be so similar to places in the area around Palmyra. In the early 1990s, a map presented by Vernal Holley purported to show place names in a broad area around Palmyra that were present in an altered fashion within the Book of Mormon.

During 1978, 1979, and 1980, Hugh Nibley taught a Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School class. Cassette recordings were made of these classes and some have survived and were recently digitized by Steve Whitlock. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don’t stop or start at the beginning of the […]

This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 48, “He ‘Has Sealed His Mission and His Works with His Own Blood’” on D&C 135-136. The panelists for this roundtable were Kris Frederickson and Martin Tanner. This roundtable was extracted from the October 17th broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete […]

D&C 135 The Martyrdom During the early months of 1844 Joseph had administered the ordinances of the temple to more Church members, and he passed on all priesthood keys that he had received—along with instructions related to the temple and its ordinances—to the Quorum of the Twelve; commissioning them to carry on after his death. […]

Abstract: This study compares personal relative pronoun usage in the earliest text of the Book of Mormon with 11 specimens of Joseph Smith’s early writings, 25 pseudo-archaic texts, the King James Bible, and more than 200,000 early modern (1473–1700) and late modern (1701–1800+) texts. The linguistic pattern of the Book of Mormon in this domain — a pattern difficult to consciously […]

Review of Terrence J. O’Leary, Book of Mormon: A History of Real People in Real Places (Pennsauken, NJ: BookBaby, 2020). 274 pages. Softcover, $20. Abstract: Terrence O’Leary enters the field of books attempting to describe a geographical and cultural background to the Book of Mormon. Placing the action of the text in Mesoamerica, O’Leary explains the Book of Mormon against his understanding of […]

  You can listen to or download the October 24th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Steve Densley and Mark Johnson. In this episode, our hosts discussed a recent Interpreter article on Korihor with the author Godfrey Ellis. The […]

It seems unlikely that the similarities we can observe between Egyptian/Semitic and Uto-Aztecan languages could have arisen by chance. Few Book of Mormon-related discoveries have had as much impact or have generated as much controversy as Brian Stubbs’ proposal connecting Egyptian and Semitic with the Uto-Aztecan languages of northern Mexico and the southwest U.S.

During 1978, 1979, and 1980, Hugh Nibley taught a Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School class. Cassette recordings were made of these classes and some have survived and were recently digitized by Steve Whitlock. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don’t stop or start at the beginning of the […]

This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 47, “Prepare Ye for the Coming of the Bridegroom” on D&C 133-134. The panelists for this roundtable were Terry Hutchinson, John Gee and Kevin Christensen. This roundtable was extracted from the October 10th broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete show may […]