Moroni 10:3-5

Text

Moroni 10:3-5 (모로나이 10:3-5):

3 보라, 내가 너희를 권면하거니와, 너희가 이를 읽는 것이 하나님 안에 있는 지혜일진대, 너희가 이 기록을 읽게 되거든, 너희는 아담이 창조된 때로부터 너희가 이 기록을 받게 될 때까지 주께서 사람의 자녀들에게 얼마나 자비로우셨던가를 기억하고, 그것을 너희 마음에 깊이 생각하라.

4 또 너희가 이 기록을 받거든, 내가 너희를 권면하거니와, 너희는 혹 이 기록이 참되지 아니한지 그리스도의 이름으로 영원하신 하나님 아버지께 간구하여 보라. 너희가 만일 그리스도를 믿는 신앙을 가지고, 진정한 의도를 지니며, 진실한 마음으로 간구할진대, 그는 성신의 권능으로 너희에게 이것의 참됨을 드러내어 주시리라.

5 또 성신의 권능으로 너희는 모든 것의 참됨을 알게 되리라.

Explanation

보라,

보라

This is simply 보다 (to see/look) + 라 (formal, impolite command form). It means, "Look!" or "See!". You know it as "Behold!"

Note that he is speaking in book form 한다 체. This is how all scripture is, except for the parts where someone is speaking.

내가 너희를 권면하거니와

"I exhort you and..."

내가

This is 나 (I) + 가 (Subject Marker). Put these together, and it changes to 내가.

너희를

This is 너희 (you, plural, impolite) + 를 (Object Marker). The thing "I" am doing something to is "you". This is plural, so he is speaking to a group of people.

권면하거니와

This is 권면하다 (to admonish, encourage, exhort) + 거니와 (and). Both of these words are not commonly used in speech, although they are appropriate for scripture. Put together, this means, "exhort even more".

This sentence fragment follows the S + O + V Sentence Pattern. Put together, "I admonish / encourage / exhort you (group of people) still more." Note how you have to rearrange the words into the English S + V + O Sentence Pattern.

Translation Tip: This is a classic case of why you should start with the verb. "권면하다" means to exhort. Who is exhorting? Whom are they exhorting? What are they exhorting them to do? The answers lie in the markers: Who?내가. Whom? 너희를. To what? That is to be supplied. The ending usually comes after a full understanding of the sentence, and can be applied around the entire thing.

너희가 이를 읽는 것

"You reading this"

너희가

너희 (you (plural)) + 가 (subject marker). "You" are doing something here.

이를

이 (this) + 를 (object marker). You are doing something to "this".

읽는

읽다 (to read) + 는 (present tense adjectival phrase marker). This marks this phrase as applying as an adjectival phrase to the following noun.

것

The most common noun in Korean: "thing".

The adjectival phrase is "you read this". It applies to "thing" so it means "the thing that you read this". Sounds weird, but if you remember that we don't use "thing" nearly as often as Koreans do, it translates better to "you reading this" as a phrase.

Note that 는 것 is so common, that we simply translate it as the gerund "-ing" instead of as "thing that -".

하나님 안에 있는 지혜

"wisdom in God"

하나님 안에

하나님 (God) + 안 (inside of) + 에 (to). Apart, this seems really weird. The "안에" pairing is extremely common and it means, "inside of" or just "in". But it really is two separate words. Altogether, "in God". Although it can be translated as literally "inside of God", it means "inside God's will" or "in God's head". You'll see shortly why.

있는

있다 (to be / exist) + 는 (present tense adjectival phrase marker). 있다 and 이다 are two entirely different verbs. This one (있다) means "to be" in the sense of "to exist at a particular place."

지혜

wisdom

Altogether, this sentence fragment is "하나님 안에 있다" which translates to "is in God". The adjectival phrase is "wisdom that is in God" or simply "wisdom in God".

너희가 이를 읽는 것이 하나님 안에 있는 지혜일진대

"if you reading this is wisdom in God"

너희가 이를 읽는 것이

"you reading this" (the subject) (see above)

하나님 안에 있는 지혜

"wisdom in God" (see above)

일진대

이다 (to be) + ㄹ진대 (if). "if A is B". 진대 is not common in Today's Korean, although it is familiar in written works.

Altogether, "If you reading this is wisdom in God". That sounds really painful in English, and it is roughly close to what it is supposed to be in English.

Note that sentence pattern A + (가/이) + B + 이다, which is literally "A is B".

너희가 이 기록을 읽게 되거든

"if you come to read this record"

너희가

너희 (you (plural)) + 가 (subject marker). "You" (as the subject, and in the plural sense.)

이 기록을

이 (this) + 기록 (record) + 을 (object marker). "This record" is the thing "you" are doing something to.

읽게 되거든

읽다 (to read) + VS + 게 되다 (come to) + 거든 (if).

• "VS + 게 되다" is a very common way to say "The situation became (되다) such that such-and-such happens." It's simply a passive form where the actor is unspecified or unimportant.
• 거든 means "if", but in spoken Korean, you'll often here it as a final ending meaning "you know?" It's not very common in spoken Korean, but you'll hear it as "if" as in this case often enough that you'll need to know it.

This means, put together, "if you come to read this record".

아담이 창조된 때로부터

"since the time Adam was created"

(Note, we're skipping "너희는" until later because it is the topic marker. It doesn't attach to this phrase, but the entire sentence.)

아담이

아담 (Adam) + 이 (subject marker). "Adam" is doing something.

창조된 때

Here, we have another adjectival phrase. 창조하다 (to create) is modified to the passive voice by replacing 하다 with 되다. So, "창조되다" means "to be created." ㄴ is the past tense adjectival phrase marker. 때 means time or period. Altogether, this means "The time (he) was created."

때로부터

때 (time / period) + 로부터 (since). This is (으)로 (from, since, with, due to, through, for) plus 부터 (since). It's pretty common to see them hanging out together like this.

Altogether, "Since the time that Adam was created". In English, we'd say, "Since the creation of Adam".

너희가 이 기록을 받게 될 때까지

"until the time you have come to receive this record"

너희가

"You" plural, subject.

이 기록을

이 (this) + 기록 (record) + 을 (object marker)

받게 될 때

받다 (receive) + VS + 게 되다 (start / come to ~) + ㄹ (future adjectival phrase marker) + 때 (time / period). The core is "받게 되다" which means, "start / come to receive". The "ㄹ" makes it future, so "will start / come to receive". This is an adjectival phrase describing the "time", so "the time when (you) will start / come to receive (this record)".

때까지

때 (time / period) + 까지 (until). "until the time".

Altogether, "until the time when you will come to receive this record."

주께서 사람의 자녀들에게 얼마나 자비로우셨던가를

"that you witness how merciful the Lord was to the children of men"

주께서

주 (Lord) + 께서 (honorific subject marker). The Lord is doing something here, and the author is honoring his name. This is quite a common way to refer to the Lord as the subject of a sentence in common speech.

사람의 자녀들에게

사람 (people) + 의 ("'s", possessive marker) + 자녀 (children, Chinese for "son daughter") + 들 (plural emphasis) + 에게 (to (a person)). "A 의 B" can be translated as "A's B" or "B of A". This can be translated as "to people's children" or "to the children of people". Note the emphasis on the plural! We are talking about a lot of people here.

얼마나

"how much". This is a question sentence, so it is going to mean "how much?".

자비로우셨던가를

자비 (mercy) + 롭다 (to be full of, to show the traits of) + 시다 (honorific infix) + 었다 (past tense) + 더다 (to recall, to witness) + ㄴ가 (question marker) + 를 (object marker). 자비롭다 is a common way of saying "to be merciful". The honorific infix (시다) is there because the Lord is the subject and the author honors him. "did you witness that (he) was merciful?" probably gives a really good translation of everything up to the 를. The 를 changes everything into a noun clause that is the object of the surrounding sentence. That is, something is doing something to "that you witness whether (he) was merciful."

Altogether, this can be translated as "that you witness / recall (더다) how (얼마나) merciful (자비로우셨다) the Lord (조께서) was to the children of men (사람의 자녀들에게)".

Note that the previous two sections apply to this phrase. So altogether, it reads "that you witness / recall how merciful the Lord was to the children of men from the creation of Adam to the time you come to receive this record".

너희는 아담이 창조된 때로부터 너희가 이 기록을 받게 될 때까지 주께서 사람의 자녀들에게 얼마나 자비로우셨던가를 기억하고

I am going to break this into the simpler form: 너희는 A를 기억하고. A is explained above.

너희는

너희 (you, plural) + 는 (topic marker) "You (and not anyone else)" as the subject of the big sentence.

A를 기억하고

A + 를 (object marker) + 기억하다 (to remember) + 고 (and).

"You remember A and..."

Putting in "A", we get: "You remember that you witness / recall how merciful the Lord was to the children of men from the creation of Adam until the time you come to receive this record".

We don't know that this is a command from the author to us until we read the ending of the last part, which has "라". When we realize this, we have to change it to, "remember that you witness / recall how merciful the Lord was to the children of men from the creation of Adam until the time you come to receive this record."

그것을 너희 마음에 깊이 생각하라

"think these things deeply in your mind"

그것을

그 (that) + 것 (thing) + 을 (object marker). Note that in Korean, nouns may be either singular or plural in their normal form. So this can be "that thing" or "those things".

너희 마음에

너희 (you, plural) + 마음 (heart) + 에 (to). Note that the 의 is missing. This is likely because you can't hear it (and thus a native writer wouldn't write it because they don't say it) or because Koreans don't bother putting it in all the time because it's understood. Also note that "heart" here would better be translated as "mind". Keep in mind (no pun intended) that Koreans think and intend with their heart, not their brains.

깊이

깊다 (deep) + 이 (adverb marker). "Deeply".

생각하라

생각하다 (to think) + 라 (imperative). "think".

Altogether, "think these things deeply in your mind".

All of Verse 3

보라,

Behold,

내가 너희를 권면하거니와,

I exhort you still more,

너희가 이를 읽는 것이 하나님 안에 있는 지혜일진대,

if it is wisdom in God that you read this,

너희가 이 기록을 읽게 되거든,

if you come to read this,

너희는

you (as opposed to everyone else)

아담이 창조된 때로부터 너희가 이 기록을 받게 될 때까지 주께서 사람의 자녀들에게 얼마나 자비로우셨던가를 기억하고,

remember that you witness how merciful the Lord has been to the children of men from the creation of Adam until the time you come to receive this record and

그것을 너희 마음에 깊이 생각하라.

think deeply on this thing in your mind.

또 너희가 이 기록을 받거든,

또

Also

너희가

You (plural) + subject marker

이 기록을

This record + object marker

받거든

If / when (you) receive (this)

"Also, when you receive this record,"

내가 너희를 권면하거니와

"I exhort you and" (see above)

너희는 혹 이 기록이 참되지 아니한지 그리스도의 이름으로 영원하신 하나님 아버지께 간구하여 보라.

너희는

You + topic marker

혹

Perhaps

이 기록이

This record + subject marker

참되VS + (는/ㄴ)지

to be true + question marker -> whether this is true

아니한지

to not be so + question marker -> whether this is not true

참되는지 아니한지

Whether (this) is true or not

그리스도의 이름으로

Christ + possessive marker + name + through -> through the name of Christ

영원하신 하나님 아버지께

to be eternal + 시다 (honorific marker, since it is God that is eternal) + ㄴ (adjectival clause ending) -> that is eternal

God + Father + honorific "to" -> to God the Father

Altogether, "to the eternal God the Father".

간구하여 보라

to fervently request + to try to ~ + imperative form -> "try to fervently request"

"You (as opposed to others)

너희가 만일 ...마음으로 간구할진대,

This next sentence is a little bit long, but bear with me. The big sentence is the bit above.

너희가

"you" (subject)

만일 ... ㄹ진대

"If (...)". The "만일" part helps mark where the "if" clause begins, and the "진대" marks the actual question. When you hear "만일" (or its brother "만약"), keep in mind what you hear until the actual question.

마음으로

"with heart". We're going to explore what kind of hear in the in-between.

간구할진대

간구하다 (to earnestly seek) + ㄹ진대 (if) = "If (you) earnestly seek"

Altogether, "If you earnestly seek with (your) heart." Again, we'll clarify what kind of heart by examining the insides of this sentence.

그리스도를 믿는 신앙을 가지고, 진정한 의도를 지니며, 진실한 마음

그리스도를 믿는 신앙을 가지고

The object is "신앙" -- "faith". What kind of faith? "그리스도를 믿는 신앙"--"faith that believes in Christ", or more simply "faith in Christ". The verb is "have" or "carry". The ending is "and". So, "have faith in Christ and ..."

진정한 의도를 지니며

"true" + (adjective marker) + "intent" + (object marker) + "carry / have" + "and" = "have true intent and ..."

진실한

"true / real / sincere" + (adjective marker)

마음

"heart" or "mind".

Put together, the first three phrases are all combining together to tell us what kind of heart we need. "heart that has faith in Christ, has true intent, and is sincere."

그는 성신의 권능으로 너희에게 이것의 참됨을 드러내어 주시리라.

그는

"he" + (topic marker). Why has the Lord become "그"? Well, we really don't want to focus on God in this part of the sentence. The important bit comes at the end.

성신의 권능으로

"Through the power / authority of the Holy Ghost"

너희에게

"to you"

이것의 참됨을

"the truthfulness of this thing / these things"

주시리라

"will give".

"He will give these things to you by the power of the Holy Ghost."

All of Verse 4

또 너희가 이 기록을 받거든, 

내가 너희를 권면하거니와 

너희는 혹 이 기록이 참되지 아니한지 그리스도의 이름으로 영원하신 하나님 아버지께 간구하여 보라. 

너희가 만일 그리스도를 믿는 신앙을 가지고, 

진정한 의도를 지니며, 

진실한 마음으로 간구할진대, 

그는 성신의 권능으로 너희에게 이것의 참됨을 드러내어 주시리라. 

또 성신의 권능으로 너희는 모든 것의 참됨을 알게 되리라

또

Also, in addition to this

성신의 권능으로

성신 (Holy Ghost) + 의 ('s, possessive marker) + 권능 (authority, power) + 으로 (through, by means of). "by the power of the Holy Ghost". (Recall "A 의 B" is "A's B" or "B of A".)

모든 것의 참됨을

모든 (all) + 것 (thing) + 의 ('s, possessive marker) + 참 (really, truly) + 되다 (to become) + ㅁ (gerund) + 을 (object marker).

The most accurate way to translate "참됨" is "becoming truly so". It's not clear whether the thing has become true already or is in the process of becoming true, so we can assume it has already happened, so it can be translated as "being truly so". In English, we don't refer to it this way, but instead we talk about the quality (-ness) of being true, or the "truthfulness". The Koreans are thinking the same way, even though it literally is "being truly so".

Altogether, "the being truly so of all things" or "the all things being truly so." Obviously, this is really weird English, so "the truthfulness of all things." Maybe, if we are feeling a bit adventurous, we can translate it as "the way all things really are."

알게 되리라

알다 (to know) + VS + 게 되다 (to start / come to) + 리라 (future ending). This can either be translated as "will start to know" or "will come to know", in both senses of those phrases. I think Koreans like "start to know", while Americans like the "come to know". This is because it gives the sense of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly, or the beginning of a long journey.

Altogether, "Also, (you) will start to know the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost."