“It Grieveth Me”

Alan C. Miner

According to John Tanner, Jacob's style sets him apart from Nephi. Jacob simply sounds different: he employs a more intimate lexicon and assumes a more diffident posture toward his audience.

A key phrase in the allegory of the vineyard, "and it grieveth me that I should lose this tree," is repeated eight times. By means of such formal repetition, called by literary critics "anaphora," the allegory sounds a refrain that celebrates the Lord's long-suffering love. The very recurrence of the line underscores the quality of that divine love--unfailing, persistent, tenacious, resolute. This characterization of the Lord matters as much as, if not more than, the historical details of his plan to redeem Israel. . . . Tanner says, "I find this allegory one of the most eloquent scriptural testimonies of God's love anywhere. Surely Jacob did too." [John S. Tanner, "Literary Reflections on Jacob and His Descendants," in The Book of Mormon: Jacob through Words of Mormon, To Learn with Joy, pp. 262-263]

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

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