A Comparison of the Book of Mormon’s Subordinate That Usage

Abstract: This paper compares the Book of Mormon’s subordinate that usage with what is found in the King James Bible, pseudo-archaic writings, and the greater textual record. In this linguistic domain, the Book of Mormon manifests as thoroughly archaic, and it surpasses all known pseudo-archaic writings in breadth and depth of archaism. The implications of this set of linguistic data indicate that the translation as originally dictated by Joseph Smith cannot plausibly be explained as the result of Joseph’s own word choices, but it is consistent with the hypothesis that the wording was somehow provided to him.

Book of Mormon excerpt with an archaic subordinate that:
“after that they had hid themselves, I Nephi crept into the city”

(1 Nephi 4:5)[1]

In 1 Nephi 4:5, archaic subordinate that usage (also called pleonastic that in the literature)[2] involves the time conjunction after. This “after that S” usage (where S stands for a sentence-like subordinate clause) is frequently found in the King James Bible (74 times by one count, if we include the Apocrypha, which was often present in earlier Bibles). Yet as we shall see, this particular archaic subordinate that usage, as well as [Page 2]subordinate that in general, occur to a limited extent in pseudo-archaic texts of the 18th and 19th centuries. The reason for this is twofold: some biblical subordinate that usage is only lightly represented in the King James text (≤ 5 times), and subordinate that usage “declin[ed] rapidly in the 17th century to such an extent that it became virtually obliterated towards the end of that same century.”[3]

I will first review biblical types of archaic subordinate that usage, then pseudo-archaic usage, and then the types found in the original Book of Mormon text. Pseudo-archaic writings constitute a control group that is important to consider (see below and the final section of the appendix for how these texts were chosen). The approach taken here is not to assume that any biblical usage was automatically reproducible by Joseph Smith, as a biblical imitator, since such an assumption is not a principled, rigorous approach.[4] Rather, many pseudo-archaic texts have been consulted in order to determine which types were produced [Page 3]by various biblical imitators, and to what extent, both before and after Joseph’s 1829 dictation of the Book of Mormon.

Biblical Types of Archaic Subordinate That Usage

The King James Bible has seven types of archaic subordinate that usage (it also has a few other types that are not as clearly or obviously archaic):

- after that S

- because that S

- before that S

- for that S (meaning ‘because’)

- how that S

- lest that S

- until that S ■ till that S (morphological variants)

I recently counted — using a digital copy of a complete 1611 Bible — 211 instances of archaic subordinate that used with the above subordinating conjunctions. Here is the above list ordered according to how many of each type were found in the biblical text.

- after that S (74)

- how that S (45)

- because that S (41)

- for that S (39)

- before that S (5)

- until that S ■ till that S (4)

- lest that S (3)

The first four types occur much more frequently than the last three types. Here are a few examples of each of these seven types of archaic subordinate that usage, ordered alphabetically:

After that S [74 instances]

Leviticus 13:7

after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing

Tobit 7:1

after that they had saluted one another, she brought them into the house

Mark 14:28

after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee

[Page 4]Because that S [41 instances]

Numbers 11:20

because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you

Tobit 3:8

because that she had been married to seven husbands

Mark 5:4

because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains

Before that S [5 instances]

Jeremiah 47:1

before that Pharaoh smote Gaza

John 1:48

before that Philip called thee

Galatians 2:12

before that certain [men] came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles

For that S [39 instances]

1 Chronicles 15:13

for that we sought him not after the due order

Proverbs 1:29

for that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord

1 Maccabees 5:67

for that they went out to fight unadvisedly

How that S [45 instances]

1 Samuel 24:18

how that thou hast dealt well with me

2 Esdras 5:54

how that ye are less of stature than those that were before you

Matthew 16:12

how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread

Lest that S [3 instances]

Genesis 38:9

lest that he should give seed to his brother

2 Maccabees 6:15

lest that … he should take vengeance of us

1 Corinthians 9:27

lest that … I myself should be a castaway

Until that S ■ Till that S [4 instances]

Judges 5:7

they ceased in Israel until that I Deborah arose

Psalm 123:2

until that he have mercy upon us

Daniel 2:34

thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands

[Page 5]Acts 21:26

until that an offering should be offered for every one of them

Pseudo-Archaic Instances of Archaic Subordinate That

After counting instances of subordinate that in a digital version of the 1611 King James Bible, I checked to see which of the above seven types were found in a corpus of 25 pseudo-archaic texts. I included all the texts mentioned in Eran Shalev’s article on pseudo-biblicism,[5] consulting other sources as well, and even adding some texts whose language is frequently archaic but for which scriptural style was not necessarily a guiding principle. The 12 longer pseudo-archaic writings in the corpus have between 14,000 and 132,000 words. (See the end of the appendix for a complete listing and for further information on how I made up the corpus.)

I found that four of the seven biblical types of subordinate that occurred in the 25 texts, the four most frequent types. The three infrequent types were not imitated (≤ 5 instances). In addition, only one shorter text (with fewer than 10,000 words) had an example of archaic subordinate that; it had an instance of “for that S” (shown below). The most commonly imitated type was “how that S”; five texts had examples of this. The higher usage of “how that S” can be explained by the uniqueness of how in this set. It functions adverbially rather than conjunctively, and in modernizations, the how can be dropped without replacement, without any loss of meaning. In contrast, the same conjunctions or synonymous conjunctions are needed in modernizations of the other subordinators.

Here are the pseudo-archaic examples that I found, ordered according to how many of such writings had them:

How that S [5 texts, 14 instances]

Book of Jasher (1751) [1 instance]

8:3

how that our fathers … dwelt in the land of Canaan and possessed the same

American Chronicles (1775) [3 instances]

1:27

how that he putteth the yoke of cannon upon the neck of the Bostonites

[Page 6]2:17

how that the heathen threatened their brethren the men of New England

3:54

how that he hath destroyed the sorcerers, the soothsayers, and the witches, out of the land

American Revolution (1793) [7 instances]

2:12

how that the people of the provinces had refused to obey the decree that he had made, and had destroyed the Indian weed

20:21

how that the servants of the king were gone into captivity

32:1

how that the servants of the king were slain and taken captive at Bennington

32:10

how that the people of the Provinces pressed hard upon the host of the king in the Northern Province

37:1

how that the Northern army was made captive by the people of the Provinces

40:2

how that the men of Britain were gone forth to forage and to distress the husbandmen

42:15

how that the strong hold was taken

Chronicles of Eri (1822) [2 instances]

3:19:19

how that he was going through Ullad, assembling the men of the land

4:9:30

how that she came over the waves of the sea from Dunmeanac

New Gospel of Peace (1863) [1 instance]

4:1:26

how that in the beginning he had said, Let the Phiretahs go

For that S [3 texts, 34 instances]

American Chronicles (1775) [1 instance]

1:5

for that they have rebelled against thee

Chronicles of Eri (1822) [32 instances]

1:4:44

for that Calma was no more

2:1:72

for that Er is not of the age

2:1:88

the land mourneth, for that Iber is no more

2:9:16

for that not one of the race of Iolar was of the age

3:2:47

for that Eocaid did abide thereon

3:7:82

Eocaid doth mourn for that Tatla is no more

[Page 7]3:19:50

for that the mind of Cairbre desireth repose

3:20:67

it is for that the words are true I feel the pain

4:1:65

for that he did not perform the promises he did make unto them

4:9:79

Eri was in trouble for that Fionn was no more

4:10:15

for that they so quickly passed his lips

4:10:94

Siorna chode with his brother, for that his ways were evil

4:10:117

Siorna died for that the men did do more than they were bidden to

4:12:14

for that all present did know the thing was contrived between them

4:24:12

they did imagine for that his words were not loud, he was consenting unto their fancies

4:24:13

for that they let it fall by the way

4:28:9

for that he delighteth not in things wherein other men have joy

4:28:53

for that all my remaining time of life, it would pain my spirit if you did

4:28:58

for that he did shun the haunts of men

5:2:37

Eri seemeth not to feel oppressed for that Maca is thereon

5:2:42

the children of the land mourned for that Maca was no more

5:5:5

for that they were pleased because of his pursuit after Bacad

5:5:9

for that Noid is as one of the princes of Gaeleii

5:6:17

for that words had come to Fearmor’s ears

5:8:23

for that he did come with many ships to Er

5:9:29

for that they entered into the land as the foe to take off a spoil

5:19:17

for that he felt no hope of a return of his love

5:24:16

for that a prince of the race of Er sat on the throne of Eri

5:24:22

they think for that Iolar ruled Erimionn, Eri should be theirs for ever

5:28:39

for that Geinter was within the portion of Er from the beginning

5:28:113

for that the mind of Scandt was filled with jealousy of the sons of Eri

5:29:41

for that Iolar first did take upon himself the name of Erimionn

[Page 8]Chronicles of Nathan (1758) [1 instance]

1:2:37

for that by the law of the Jews no man might suffer death for this thing

Because that S [2 texts, 11 instances]

History of Anti-Christ (1811) [1 instance]

2:8:11

because that no man was thought fit for a magistrate or church member

New Gospel of Peace (1863) [10 instances]

2:2:2

because that he could say more and mean less than any other man in that country

2:2:2

because that there was no man who could see more ways of making trouble for other folk and getting out of it himself

2:3:4

because that he had been driven out of the Wilderness of Pharjinnee and that they worked not with him to obtain the victory

2:4:34

for because that he was not a Kopur-hedd

2:4:48

for because that his case is desperate

3:1:4

because that in the days of James … he had joined himself unto the Schynnurs

3:5:29

because that the men of the Eunyun held themselves aloof

3:7:38

because that by your carelessness ye did so mislead and afflict the people

3:7:41

because that he would suffer no man to speak or to write evil of him

4:1:6

because that he cut his way into the country of the Phiretahs

After that S [1 text, 9 instances]

American Revolution (1793) [9 instances]

5:1

after that the army of the king of Britain had gotten safe to land

23:16

after that the host of Britain had gone into the ships

24:14

after that the host of the people of the provinces had fled from the army of Britain

25:11

after that William … had gotten into the city

28:1

now after that Donop the captain was slain

[Page 9]38:1

after that the king of Gaul had made a covenant with Benjamin

42:18

after that the people of the Provinces had gotten possession thereof

53:13

not many hours after that Nathaniel had assumed the command of the army

59:4

after that Cornwallis was taken captive

Four of the 12 longer pseudo-archaic texts had two types of archaic subordinate that:

- American Chronicles (1775)

- American Revolution (1793)

- Chronicles of Eri (1822)

- New Gospel of Peace (1863)

None of the pseudo-archaic texts had three or more types of archaic subordinate that.

The Book of Mormon’s Usage of Archaic Subordinate That

Most Book of Mormon instances of subordinate that were deleted early in the editing process, primarily for the 1837 edition. These edits by Joseph Smith made the text less biblical. Royal Skousen, as part of his critical text work, documented all the editing that has occurred over time for this syntactic usage, providing counts of the various kinds of subordinate that usage.[6] What he found is that the vast majority of the time, but not always, there are biblical examples of the usage.

In contrast to pseudo-archaic writings, the Book of Mormon has six of the seven types of archaic subordinate that usage found in the King James Bible. Here are examples of these six types:

After that S [115 instances]

1 Nephi 19:4

after that I was gone

1 Nephi 15:13

after that the Messiah hath manifested himself in body unto the children of men

3 Nephi 28:3

after that ye are seventy and two years old

Because that S [34 instances]

1 Nephi 16:22

because that they had hardened their hearts again

[Page 10]2 Nephi 29:10

wherefore because that ye have a Bible

Mormon 9:20

because that they dwindle in unbelief

Before that S [8 instances]

1 Nephi 13:15

like unto my people before that they were slain

1 Nephi 19:2

the things which transpired before that I made these plates

Mormon 6:22

O that ye had repented before that this great destruction had come upon you!

For that S [1 instance]

Alma 21:21

for that his father had granted unto him that he might reign

How that S [8 instances]

Jacob 2:5

how that ye are beginning to labor in sin

Jacob 3:10

how that ye have grieved their hearts

Helaman 5:6

how that it is said … that they were good

Lest that S [3 instances]

Alma 22:22

he … feared lest that a multitude should assemble

Alma 36:11

lest perhaps that I should be destroyed

Helaman 2:11

he feared lest that he should be destroyed

Additional Types of Subordinate That Occurring in the Book of Mormon

In terms of semantics, the original Book of Mormon text has another type of archaic subordinate that usage also found in the 1611 Bible:

To that S [like biblical “till that S” and “until that S”] [1 instance]

1 Nephi 18:9

insomuch that they began to dance and to sing and to speak with much rudeness yea even to that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither

In terms of morphology, this one is different from what is found in the King James Bible.

[Page 11]Since that S [1 instance]

The original Book of Mormon text has another type of archaic subordinate that usage not found in the 1611 Bible:

1 Nephi 22:5

And since that they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them,

The subordinate that was removed by Joseph Smith in 1837;[7] the archaic that can be seen on page 56 of the 1830 first edition.

This same usage is found in the forerunner to the King James Bible, the 1568 Bishops’ Bible, in the book of Acts. This biblical passage can be found in the Early English Books Online database (EEBO).[8] In the following excerpt, the spelling has been modernized:

1568, EEBO A10708 [Bishops’ Bible, Acts 2:33]

Then since that he by the right hand of God was exalted, and hath received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,

King James reading:

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,

Besides this type of subordinate that, the Book of Mormon also has two subtypes of subordinate that (five instances) not found in the King James Bible; these are covered below.

The Book of Mormon stands out from pseudo-archaic texts in both types and number of instances of subordinate that. The longer pseudo-archaic texts, which together have more than twice as many words as the Book of Mormon, have fewer types of subordinate that, as well as fewer instances. Taken together, the 12 longer pseudo-archaic texts have half as many types and about one-fifth the rate of occurrence (1.2 instances per about 10,000 words versus 6.9 per 10,000 words in the Book of Mormon, which has approximately 250,000 words in mostly nonbiblical contexts).

[Page 12]Table 1. Comparison of archaic subordinate that usage with eight subordinators in the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, and 25 pseudo-archaic texts.

King James Bible

Book of Mormon

Pseudo-Archaic Texts

after that S

✓

✓

✓

how that S

✓

✓

✓

because that S

✓

✓

✓

for that S

✓

✓

✓

before that S

✓

✓

lest that S

✓

✓

until/till/to that S

✓

✓

Since that S

✓

Note: Five other subordinating conjunctions discussed in Grammatical Variation (see note 6) — “except (that) S”, “insomuch (that) S”, “notwithstanding (that) S”, “save (that) S”, and “than (that) S” — were not included in this study, either because the degree of archaism of the that-construction isn’t clear or the lack of that is often due to other grammatical factors. The correlation of the subordinate that usage of the King James Bible and the Book of Mormon is 0.78.

As shown in Table 2, none of the 12 longer pseudo-archaic texts has more than two types of subordinate that, yet the Book of Mormon has eight, one more than the King James Bible. In more than 580,000 pseudo-archaic words (more than 560,000 in the 12 longer texts), all that we find are four types. So from the assumption that, syntactically speaking, the Book of Mormon is a pseudo-archaic text worded by Joseph Smith — an assumption that many LDS scholars make (without necessarily saying so or using that terminology) — we do not expect eight types of this archaic syntax. The upper bound of what we expect is four.

Table 2. Number of types and instances of archaic subordinate that occurring in scriptural texts and 12 longer pseudo-archaic texts.

Texts

Types

Instances

King James Bible, including the Apocrypha

7

211

Book of Mormon, nonbiblical sections

8

172

6 longer pseudo-archaic (P-A) texts

Contents