Editing Second Nephi (section)

=== Nephi's poetry ===
Independent scholar Matthew Nickerson identifies shared traits between what has been called "the Psalm of Nephi" and psalms of the Old Testament. Nephi’s words are specifically connected to the individual lament, each of which contains an invocation, complaint, confession of trust, petition, and vow of praise. Nickerson proposes that each of these elements can be identified, making Nephi’s psalm a true psalm.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nickerson |first=Matthew |date=1997-07-31 |title=Nephi's Psalm: 2 Nephi 4:16–35 in the Light of Form-Critical Analysis |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol6/iss2/3 |journal=Journal of Book of Mormon Studies |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=30, 40–41 |doi=10.2307/44758820 |jstor=44758820 |issn=2374-4766}}</ref> According to Fatimah Salleh and Margaret Hemming, Nephi's psalm is associated with grief over his father’s death and tensions within the family.{{sfn|Salleh and Hemming|2020|pp=59–60}}

Richard Rust explains that Nephi incorporates certain literary aspects such as rhythms and structures similar to those found in poetry.{{sfn|Rust|1997|p=11}} One example is when Nephi repeats words and phrases in a way that contributes to the poetic sounds of his writings.{{sfn|Rust|1997|p=4}} Some of the things he repeats include "the Lord," "commanded,"{{sfn|Rust|1997|pp=27–29}} and "that I may walk...that I may be strict."{{sfn|Rust|1997|p=45}} Such repetition is emphatic, says Rust.{{sfn|Rust|1997|p=45}} Because of Nephi's repetition and use of Hebrew structure—which presents and then satisfies an idea—his poetry is similar to Isaiah’s.{{sfn|Rust|1997|pp=66–67}} Bible and Jewish Studies professor David Bokovoy claims another connection to biblical poetry in Nephi's tendency to switch from third to first person. Bokovoy notes other examples in the Bible of the writer switching in the same passage from speaking about God at a distance to speaking to God in proximity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bokovoy |first=David |date=2000-01-31 |title=From Distance to Proximity: A Poetic Function of Enallage in the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Mormon |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol9/iss1/14 |journal=Journal of Book of Mormon Studies |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=62–63 |doi=10.2307/44758908 |jstor=44758908 |issn=2374-4766}}</ref> Additionally, Salleh and Hemming suggest that, based on the tone of the psalm, Nephi doesn’t have a lot of time to mourn over his parents' deaths before he has to flee from his brothers.{{Sfn|Salleh and Hemming|2020|p=61}}