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Having thought about Janus Parallelism a bit more, I’m thinking that I was slightly incorrect in saying that I had never heard of Janus Parallelism before. Although factually correct, there was a part of me that shouted, “Of course you’ve seen it before! We use it all the time in English, just not as a typical grammatical art form (some consider these structures an art form, though.) We call them, “Puns”.”
Granted that “puns” are not entirely accurate for what a Janus parallelism implies, still, the idea of how modern puns are fashioned and how easily understood they are to any native English speaker who hears them, helped me to understand how Janus Parallelism could work in an ancient setting.
An interesting coincidence that the first Hebrew root (zmr) used to identify Janus Parallelism in the Bible was also the first Hebrew root used to identify a possible Janus Parallelism in the Book of Mormon!
Perhaps we should
“sing” Paul’s “praises” as he “prunes”
1 Nephi 18:16!
Having never heard of Janus parallelism prior to this article, I find the idea contemplative. Most of us are neither linguists nor versed in ancient languages, and yet someday, someone will step forward and tackle this opportunity as Professor Hoskisson has recommended. Although as per his explanation, the translation eradicates many of what may have existed, utilizing the backwards method to obtain the prior Hebraic translation may still prove useful as he aptly demonstrated. Very neat article with lots of potential, for both now and in the future!