The Lamb of God Chiastic Center

Alan C. Miner

In the companion volume to this commentary, The Covenant Story, which contains the text of the Book of Mormon, the term "Lamb" as a title of the Lord has been bolded in order to emphasize its significance as a central message of the book of 1st Nephi. The term "Lamb" (with it's covenant sacrificial and atonement symbolism) has been cited as the "literal" chiastic center of 1 Nephi. It sits at the center of 164 elements repeated in reverse order, extending from "the Lamb of God" (1 Nephi 14:3). (See the commentary on 1 Nephi 1:2.) While the term "Lamb" is used 57 times in chapters 10-14 of 1 Nephi, it is used only 14 other times in the rest of the Book of Mormon:

by Nephi 4 times (2 Nephi 31:4,5,6; 33:14)

by Alma 2 times (Alma 7:14; 13:11)

by Amulek 1 time (Alma 34:36)

by Mormon 1 time (Helaman 6:5)

by Moroni 5 times (Mormon 9:2,3,6; Ether 13:10,11)

Interestingly, the deity title "Lamb" does not occur in the Old Testament portion of our present King James Version. However, Isaiah's mention of one who is "brought as a lamb to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7; see Mosiah 14:7) in his prophecy of Christ is most revealing. The title "Lamb of God" is first mentioned by John (John 1:36), and the title "Lamb" occurs 25 times in the book of Revelation. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [For interesting commentary relative to "the Lamb," see 1 Nephi 10:10; 11:32-33; 12:11; 12:18; 13:28; 13:39; 14:3]

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

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