Keywords
Book of Mormon, dictation, creating chapters
Abstract
Modern readers are so accustomed to books with chapters that we do not find it strange to see chapters in the Book of Mormon. In many ancient writings, the physical limitations of the writing medium limited the text, and there was no need for chapters. It is possible that in the Old World, chapters may have evolved only after a writing medium that could contain more text than a scroll became available. One researcher has suggested that between 3,000 to 5,000 words would fit on a scroll and that number of words also describes the size of a typical chapter.78 As for dating the origin of chapters, we begin to see Egyptian documents with chapters in the second millennium bc.79
Recommended Citation
Gardner, Brant
(2020)
"Chapter 4: Mormon Making Chapters,"
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Vol. 35, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/interpreter/vol35/iss1/8
