Abstract: The prophecies in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 are third-generation members of the same family of texts derived from Isaiah 11:11–12 and Isaiah 29:4, all of which ultimately rely on yāsap (yôsîp or yôsip) idioms to describe the gathering of Israel and the concomitant coming forth of additional scripture. Mormon, following Nephi, apparently engages in a specific kind of wordplay on the name Joseph in 3 Nephi 26:8–10 and 4 Nephi 1:49 that ultimately harks back to the divine promises made to Joseph in Egypt (2 Nephi 25:21; see also especially 2 Nephi 3:4–16, Genesis 50:24–34 JST) and to his descendants. This wordplay looks forward to the name and role of the prophetic translator through whom additional scripture “[would] be brought again” and “[would] come again” in the last days.

table {border: 1px solid #dddddd; width: 100%; margin: auto;} td, th {border: 1px solid #dddddd; padding: 5px !important; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;} th {background-color: #eeeeee; color: #373737 !important; font-size: 100% !important; font-weight: 700 !important; text-transform: none !important; line-height: 1.5 !important} .centered td, .centered th {text-align: center !important;} .right td, .right th {text-align: right !important;} td.left, th.left {text-align: left !important;} td.centered, th.centered {text-align: center !important;} td.right, th.right {text-align: right !important;} table.noborder, table.noborder td{border: 0px solid #ffffff; padding: 0 5px !important} p.caption-text {text-align: center !important; margin-top: 1em !important; font-weight: 700;} .chiasm-b {padding-left: 2em;} .chiasm-c {padding-left: 4em;} .chiasm-d {padding-left: 6em;} .chiasm-e {padding-left: 8em;} .chiasm-f {padding-left: 10em;} .chiasm-g {padding-left: 12em;} p.caption {margin-top: 1em !important; text-align: center !important;}

The basic meaning of the verb yāsap is to “add” or “increase,”1 with the more developed idiomatic senses of “to do [something] again, more”2 (literally, to “add to do”).3 The name Joseph (yôsēp) is a third-person masculine singular form of this verb in its causative stem, [Page 280]meaning “may Yahweh add” (see Genesis 30:23–24).4 In previous studies, I have treated wordplays related to the name Joseph. For example, Nephi’s autobiographical adaptation of wordplay on Joseph in Genesis 37:5, 8 (“and they [Joseph’s brothers] hated him yet the more,” wayyôsipû ʿôd) in 2 Nephi 5:2 (“their [Nephi’s brothers’] anger did increase against me”) demonstrates Nephi’s consciousness of biblical wordplay on Joseph and its narratological and rhetorical potential.5 Nevertheless, building on previous findings, I endeavor to present new insights that are brought out in the passages explored...