“Shaken”

Alan C. Miner

Wade Brown notes that occasionally, uniqueness of authorship in the Book of Mormon is demonstrated not in the combination of words but in the context of how particular words are used. A word may be common to many authors but used in a specific thought pattern by only one.

For example, consider the phrase "shaken." In the Book of Mormon, "shaken" is utilized by several writers. But only Jacob used "shaken" in reference to testimony or faith. In one of his sections he stated, "the righteous fear them not for they love the truth and are not shaken." (2 Nephi 9:40) In a second section he stated "I will unfold this mystery unto you if I do not by any means get shaken from my firmness in the spirit" (Jacob 4:18). In a third section he stated "Sherem . . . had hope to shake me from the faith . . . I could not be shaken" (Jacob 7:5).

Thus Jacob used "shaken" in three of his four sections but only in reference to adherence to personal faith. All other authors who used the phrase wrote it in reference to things or people being physically moved or rattled. [C. Wade Brown, The First Page of the Golden Plates, pp. 30-31]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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