Difference between revisions of "Question: Is Gilbert Hunt's phrase "the fourth day of this seventh month" in ''The Late War'' a source for the Book of Mormon phrase "the fourth day of this seventh month" in Alma 10:6?"

Question: Is Gilbert Hunt's phrase "the fourth day of this seventh month" in The Late War a source for the Book of Mormon phrase "the fourth day of this seventh month" in Alma 10:6?

Critics' comparison: The "4th of July" appears in the Book of Mormon and the Late War, "the fourth day of the seventh month..." ^[1]

Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, ""A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/

• Alma 10:6: the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the judges.
• The Late War 26:1: the fourth day of the seventh month, which is the birth day of Columbian Liberty and Independence,

This is typical biblical phraseology, and it is not at all unique to The Late War

• Zechariah 7:1: And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
• Nehemiah 9:1: Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
• 2 Kings 25:3: And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
• 2 Chronicles 29:17: Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
• Ezra 7:9: For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
• Exodus 40:2: On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
• 2 Chronicles 3:2: And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
• 2 Kings 25:3: And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
• Joshua 4:19: And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
• Leviticus 25:9: Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
• Ezra 8:31: Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

There is nothing unique about the "4th of July" in the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon also mentions other dates in the same manner:

• The 3rd of July is mentioned in Alma 56:42: But it came to pass that they did not pursue us far before they halted; and it was in the morning of the third day of the seventh month.
• The 5th of February is mentioned in Alma 16:1: And it came to pass in the eleventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, on the fifth day of the second month, there having been much peace in the land of Zarahemla, there having been no wars nor contentions for a certain number of years, even until the fifth day of the second month in the eleventh year, there was a cry of war heard throughout the land.

Notes

1. ↑ Chris Johnson, Duane Johnson, "A Comparison of The Book of Mormon and The Late War Between the United States and Great Britain," http://wordtreefoundation.github.io/thelatewar/