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| A1 – And now behold, is the ''meaning of the word restoration'' to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature? O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again
| | #REDIRECT [[Question: What is the significance of the chiasmus in Alma 41:12-15?]] |
| :A2 – ''evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish''
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| ::B – good for that which is good [2x]
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| :::C – righteous for that which is righteous [2x]
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| ::::D – just for that which is just [2x]
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| :::::E – merciful for that which is merciful. [2x]
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| :::::: ''(Note how the double repetition in the first half is repeated twice in the second half)''
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| :::::: '''First repetition'''
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| :::::e – Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren
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| ::::d – deal justly
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| :::c – judge righteously
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| ::b – and do good continually
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| and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea,
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| :::::: '''Second repetition''' ''(shall 'return unto you again')''
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| :::::e – ye shall have mercy restored unto you again;
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| ::::d – ye shall have justice restored unto you again
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| :::c – ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again;
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| ::b – and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again
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| :A2 – For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again,
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| and be restored;
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| A1 – therefore, ''the word restoration'' more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.{{ref|welch1}}
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| The poetry cleverly teaches the doctrine that Alma is trying to convey: the doctrine of “restoration,” or "the word restoration" as he begins and ends.
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| So, the first half "gives" things like justice, righteousness, and doing good—the second half reflects those things back a first time, and then a second time in which these things are come “unto you again.” The poem itself “restores” things. It’s a clever bit of work, in which the chiasmus actually accomplishes what the doctrine it is teaching ''does''.
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| ==Endnotes==
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| {{note|welch1}} John W. Welch, ''Chiasmus In Antiquity'' (Provo, Utah: FARMS, Research Press, 1981): 207.
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