KnoWhy #490 - Does the Book of Mormon Really Have “Bad” Grammar? (Ether 12:27)

For many years, people have assumed that the Book of Mormon’s unusual grammar was simply a product of Joseph Smith’s rural dialect, or that it might be the result of an uneducated speaker trying to sound biblical. Yet in a surprising turn, recent linguistic research has shown that almost every non-standard word or phrase in the Book of Mormon shows up as proper usage in an earlier period of the English language, called Early Modern English. While the reason for the book’s archaic features is unknown, this situation shows how the Lord can transform apparent weaknesses into strengths.