The Burden of Wounds

            In my section there wasn’t any “spoken word”, but only prophecies of Isaiah and some writings of Nephi. So I decided to analyze a part of Jacob’s speech to his brethren as he explains why he must address them. Jacob preached unto them saying, “Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to admonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds.” 

         From this we can see the emotion and pain that Jacob feels for the words he is about to unleash upon his audience.  His tone has a melancholy feel as he uses phrases like “burdeneth my soul”, “enlarge the wounds”, and “daggers places to pierce their souls”.  Through his words and phrases, we can feel his disappointment and pain for what he is about to do to his beloved brethren.  Another thing that I thought was interesting was the repetition of the word wound throughout this verse. Jacob uses wound as an adjective, noun and verb which creates different meanings, and the repetition reinforces the imagery of a wound. And through this imagery of wounding and wounds, we realize the seriousness and intensity of what Jacob is going to tell his audience. Using his language, Jacob sets the context of his following discourse, and the absolute gravity of his audience’s situation.