The Book of Mormon tested
King James English in an ancient record
Long passages of the Book of Mormon follow the King James Bible closely, including Isaiah chapters and the Sermon on the Mount.
What anyone can check
2 Nephi chapters 12 to 24 parallel Isaiah chapters 2 to 14, and 3 Nephi chapters 12 to 14 parallel Matthew 5 to 7, in wording very close to the 1611 King James Version. The Book of Mormon dates Lehi's departure from Jerusalem to about 600 BC, yet these chapters follow an English translation made two thousand years later.
2And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.
2 Nephi 12:2 · read it at ChurchofJesusChrist.org
2And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isaiah 2:2 (King James Version, 1611) · context
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
3 Nephi 13:9 · read it at ChurchofJesusChrist.org
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 6:9 (King James Version, 1611) · context
The usual answers
Latter-day Saints answer that Joseph Smith used familiar King James language when the text matched. That explanation concedes the main point: the wording comes from 1611 English, and the plates were not needed to produce it.
Sources
- 2 Nephi 12-24; 3 Nephi 12-14 (churchofjesuschrist.org); compare Isaiah 2-14 and Matthew 5-7 in the King James Version (1611).