EVIDENCE: Build Buildings—cognate Accusative

Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen

In the grammatical construction referred to as the cognate accusative, a noun is used with a same-root verb, as in Genesis 37:5, where we learn that Joseph “dreamed a dream.” In English, we would normally phrase this as “Joseph had a dream.” Many examples of the cognate accusative exist in the Hebrew Bible, though this form is not apparent in most translations. The Book of Mormon includes many uses of the cognate accusative, such as “I will work a great and a marvelous work” (1 Nephi 14:7), “This was the desire which I desired of him (Enos 1:13), “build buildings” (2 Nephi 5:15, Mosiah 23:5), “succor those that stand in need of your succor” (Mosiah 4:16), and “judge righteous judgment” (Mosiah 29:29, 43). Again we perceive the footprint of divine influence in the wording used in the Book of Mormon (see Echoes, 177).

Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1

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