Anaphora: The Same Beginning

Anaphora is the easiest type of Hebrew writing form to identify. It is the "repetition of the same word or phrase in several successive clauses." E. W. Bullinger defines it as "the repetitions of the same word at the beginning of successive sentences."

Anaphora is a Greek term meaning "to repeat" or "to bring again." It describes an "important and impressive figure of speech" that in English is simply designated as "like sentence beginnings." Anaphoric phrases are common and are easily found in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

Perhaps the most famous example to Latter-day Saints is the phrase and it came to pass, found plentifully throughout the Book of Mormon.

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An extract from Hugh W. Pinnock, Finding Biblical Hebrew and Other Ancient Literary Forms in the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1999), 18-21.

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