3 Nephi 1:15-19 is as follows:
15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
16 And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand.
17 And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth.
18 For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.
19 And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.
Here is the same passage without versification:
And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand.
And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth. For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.
And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.
And here is the same passage structured into the proposed chiasmic structure:
| A | And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; |
| B | for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; |
| C | and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came. And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand. |
| D | And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; |
| C' | yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth. For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief. |
| B' | And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; |
| A' | and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given. |
I have bolded phrases and words which repeat in other units. The center D unit indicates the the central point of this passage, "And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear". Corresponding units repeat each other.
In reviewing C, D and C', the textual sub-units are rather apparent. The following depicts the sub-units of C and D:
- and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
- And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead,
- for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated;
- for the sign which had been given was already at hand.
- And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear;
The following depicts the sub-units of C':
- yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished
- that they fell to the earth.
- For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years,
- and that the sign which had been given was already at hand;
- and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.
Such strong correlation can hardly be accidental. I particularly like the emphasis of the 5th sub-units:
"And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly
appear"
"and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their
unbelief."
Integrating the sub-unit structure into the proposed chiasma, yields the following:
| A | And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; |
| B | for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; |
|
| C | - and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
- And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead,
- for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated;
- for the sign which had been given was already at hand.
- And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear;
|
|
| C' | - yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished
- that they fell to the earth.
- For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years,
- and that the sign which had been given was already at hand;
- and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.
|
| B' | And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; |
| A' | and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given. |
This reorganization lost the proposed D, which made for an obvious center unit, but this reorganization is much stronger in that it takes into account many very obvious sub-units. And I think it is, therefore, closer to the author's intent. C and C' become the center focus of this chiasma.
I think there is some type of structure to the subunits in C and C'. More thinking on this passage may yield that structure.
One thing is certain to me. This type of analysis definitely helps focus on the author's message.
Sub-unit 3 emphasizes the role of the prophets in informing the people of what was coming.
