Questions to Gospel Answers

Why is the phrase "The Children of Men" so over used in modern scripture?

The phrase "the children of men" is used consistently through many of the modern scriptures published by Joseph Smith. By comparing the frequencies of the use of this phrase in the Bible and then to the modern scriptures, a pattern emerges that suggests that the same author wrote parts of the Book of Mormon, D&C, and Book of Moses. This author would most likely be familiar with this phrase from reading the Psalms.

The phrase "the children of men " only occurs once in each of the following books of the Old Testament:

Genesis 11:5
1 Samuel 26:19
2 Samuel 7:14
1 Kings 8:39
2 Chronicles 6:30
Proverbs 15:11
Lamentations 3:33
Ezekiel 31:14
Daniel 2:38

It occurs once in ten of the Psalms:
Ps 11:4
Ps 12:1
Ps 14:2
Ps 21:10
Ps 36:7
Ps 45:2
Ps 53:2
Ps 66:5
Ps 90:3
Ps 115:16

It occurs four times in Psalm 107:
Ps 107:8
Ps 107:15
Ps 107:21
Ps 107:31

The Psalms are contained in about 84 pages in the KJV and therefore this phrase has a frequency of about 14/84 or .17 per page.

This phrase is not used at all in the New Testament.

It is interesting to note that except for Psalm 107, this phrase is never used more than one time per book or Psalm.

In the Book of Mormon and other scriptures "translated" or published by Joseph Smith, we find that this phrase is used over and over again on a consistently high basis:
 
 

Book  Occurrences  Pages in Book  Frequency of Usage per Page
1 Nephi  23 48.5 .47*
2 Nephi  32 58 .55*
Jacob 1 18 .06
Jarom 1 1.5 .67*
Mosiah 18 61 .30*
Alma 15 164.3 .09
Helaman 6 39.5 .15
3 Nephi 4 57 .07
4 Nephi 1 4 .25*
Mormon 2 18.5 .11
Ether 9 31.5 .29*
Moroni 14 12.2 1.15**
D&C 35 256 .14
Moses 13 26 .50*
JST Genesis 10 ? ?
JST Isaiah 6 ? ?

 

The consistent overuse of this phrase may indicate that the same author (or abridger) was at work on the above mentioned books, especially those highlighted with a *. It is significant that this phrase is used in every book in the Book of Mormon except for Enos, Omni, and the Words of Mormon. The "Book of Moses" uses this phrase at the same frequency as found in 1 & 2 Nephi. In Moroni, the phrase is used more than once per page. JST Isaiah introduces the phrase 6 times when the original Old Testament book doesn't use the phrase even one time.

Did the writer of the JST Isaiah and the Book of Moses also write sections of the Book of Mormon?

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