“Despise Not the Revelations of God”

Alan C. Miner

According to research by Gail Call, an interesting biblical or Hebrew figure of speech used in the Book of Mormon is called antenantiosis. It is the practice of stating a proposition in terms of its opposite. The result is to express the positive in a very high degree, or as the biblical scholar E. W. Bullinger puts it, "We thus emphasize that which we seem to lessen."

For instance, when Jacob counsels to "despise not the revelations of God" (Jacob 4:8), he is not merely saying that one should not despise the revelations; he is actually urging the righteous to hold the revelations of God in the highest esteem. The unexpected negative increases the force of the idea that it apparently understates. It seems to make us notice and dwell on the expression, so that we can learn more from it. [Gail Call, "Antenantiosis in the Book of Mormon," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., p. 96]

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

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