The Yale edition of the Book of Mormon text uses the word "between" 33 times in a meticulously consistent way. Entity A is between entities B and C when B & C are analogous but A is apart and dissimilar. This is precisely what we would expect from the OED etymology of the word "between" (by twin or by twain) and its examples of word usage from Early Modern English.
"A peace made betwene the Emperorure and the Kinge." Charles Wriothesley, A chronicle of England during the reigns of the Tudors, ca. 1600. The emperor and the king are of the same genre, while peace is something else entirely.
"Which beddes are deuises made of Cotten wooll, and hunge vp betweene two trees..." Archbishop George Abbott, A briefe description of the whole worlde, 1599. The trees are twins. The hammock is distinct.
"The place where his tent was at ye first, betwene Bethel and Ay." Coverdale Bible, 1535. The two toponyms are analogues. Abraham's tent is different.
This same pattern of outlier A by correlates B & C holds throughout the text. The following verses document all unique instances of the word "between" in order of first attestation.
Enos 1:24 wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Omni 1:10 much war and contention between my people the Nephites and the Lamanites
Omni 1:24 a serious war and much bloodshed between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Mosiah 21:22 disturbance between the Lamanites and the people of Limhi
Alma heading: a war between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Alma 1:15 there [up on the top of Hill Manti] he [Nehor] was caused or rather did acknowledge between the heavens and the earth
Alma 22:32 the line between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation (Only in the Yale Edition, not in the 1981 or 2013 LDS editions. A line is a political or ecological boundary while lands are contiguous territories.)
Alma 22:32 a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward (the small neck of land was a substantively different land form separate from either the land northward or the land southward)
Alma 27:23 we will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi
Alma 40:9 a space between the time of death and the resurrection
Alma 40:11 the state of the soul between death and the resurrection
Alma 40:21 a space between death and the resurrection
Alma 50:11 the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Alma 50:11 [the line] between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi
Alma 50:14 a foundation for a city between the city of Moroni and the city of Aaron (a foundation for a city is of a different nature than established cities)
Alma 50:26 a warm contention between them [the land of Morianton and the land of Lehi
Alma 50:35 a battle commenced between them [Teancum's forces and the people of Morianton]
Alma 50:36 a union took place between them [the people of Morianton] and the people of Lehi
Alma 51:1 peace between the people of Lehi and the people of Morianton
Alma 52:20 plains between the two cities [the city of Bountiful and the city of Mulek]
Alma 62:35 this great and lasting war between them [the Nephites] and the Lamanites
Alma 62:41 the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Helaman 2:1 peace between the Nephites and the Lamanites
3 Nephi 2:17 war between the robbers and the people of Nephi
3 Nephi 3:23 the land which was between the land of (the word "of" is not in the LDS 1981 & 2013 editions of the text) Zarahemla and the land Bountiful. (There are 3 major ways this curious "land between" was different from the land of Zarahemla, the land Bountiful, or any other traditional Nephite land. 1) It had no name, only a description. 2) It was a narrow defensive military corridor and refugee camp 3 Nephi 3:22. 3) It was abandoned after the war ended and it had served its temporary purpose 3 Nephi 6:1,2.)
3 Nephi 24:18 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked (citing Malachi 3:18)
3 Nephi 23:18 [ye shall discern] between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not
Mormon 1:8 war between the Nephites [and the Lamanites]
Mormon 1:8 this was was between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Mormon 2:1 war again between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Ether 9:12 war between the sons of Akish and Akish
The text is scrupulously consistent in its usage of the word "between." In every case, entity A is adjacent to but substantively different from twin, correlate or parallel entities B & C. This pattern has a profound implication for Book of Mormon geography. It means the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (or any other wide isthmus) cannot be the small neck of land described in Alma 22:32. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an unbroken continuum of land mass including continental divide and rivers flowing toward both oceans. Tehuantepec as the small neck, integral with both the land northward and the land southward, overtly contradicts the textual pattern.
Part of the boundary between the land northward and the land southward may still pass through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Virtually all LDS Mesoamericanists who treat the Book of Mormon believe the Coatzacoalcos River was an important boundary on the Gulf of Campeche. Limhi's exploring party could still have traveled through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The text never says those 43 intrepid men passed through the narrow (small) neck of land. It only says they made it from the land of Nephi to the land of Cumorah and back again. Conjecture on the part of many that the narrow (small) neck of land is an isthmus and therefore all land movement between the lands northward and southward must have passed through it is not supported in the text. The narrow (small) neck of land is a coastal feature Ether 10:20 associated with one and only one sea, the west sea Alma 22:32, Alma 63:5 which means it is a narrow peninsula.
Our correlate for the small neck of land could hardly fit the text and its Early Modern English sense of meaning more precisely. Barra San Marcos is a long, slender peninsula separated from the mainland by a series of coastal lagoons.
The text uses the similar word "betwixt" 6 times, sometimes as a synonym for "between" and other times with unique meanings. As we saw with "between," this is precisely what we would expect from the OED senses of meaning for "betwixt."
"A peace made betwene the Emperorure and the Kinge." Charles Wriothesley, A chronicle of England during the reigns of the Tudors, ca. 1600. The emperor and the king are of the same genre, while peace is something else entirely.
"Which beddes are deuises made of Cotten wooll, and hunge vp betweene two trees..." Archbishop George Abbott, A briefe description of the whole worlde, 1599. The trees are twins. The hammock is distinct.
"The place where his tent was at ye first, betwene Bethel and Ay." Coverdale Bible, 1535. The two toponyms are analogues. Abraham's tent is different.
This same pattern of outlier A by correlates B & C holds throughout the text. The following verses document all unique instances of the word "between" in order of first attestation.
Enos 1:24 wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Omni 1:10 much war and contention between my people the Nephites and the Lamanites
Omni 1:24 a serious war and much bloodshed between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Mosiah 21:22 disturbance between the Lamanites and the people of Limhi
Alma heading: a war between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Alma 1:15 there [up on the top of Hill Manti] he [Nehor] was caused or rather did acknowledge between the heavens and the earth
Alma 22:32 the line between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation (Only in the Yale Edition, not in the 1981 or 2013 LDS editions. A line is a political or ecological boundary while lands are contiguous territories.)
Alma 22:32 a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward (the small neck of land was a substantively different land form separate from either the land northward or the land southward)
Alma 27:23 we will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi
Alma 40:9 a space between the time of death and the resurrection
Alma 40:11 the state of the soul between death and the resurrection
Alma 40:21 a space between death and the resurrection
Alma 50:11 the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Alma 50:11 [the line] between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi
Alma 50:14 a foundation for a city between the city of Moroni and the city of Aaron (a foundation for a city is of a different nature than established cities)
Alma 50:26 a warm contention between them [the land of Morianton and the land of Lehi
Alma 50:35 a battle commenced between them [Teancum's forces and the people of Morianton]
Alma 50:36 a union took place between them [the people of Morianton] and the people of Lehi
Alma 51:1 peace between the people of Lehi and the people of Morianton
Alma 52:20 plains between the two cities [the city of Bountiful and the city of Mulek]
Alma 62:35 this great and lasting war between them [the Nephites] and the Lamanites
Alma 62:41 the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Helaman 2:1 peace between the Nephites and the Lamanites
3 Nephi 2:17 war between the robbers and the people of Nephi
3 Nephi 3:23 the land which was between the land of (the word "of" is not in the LDS 1981 & 2013 editions of the text) Zarahemla and the land Bountiful. (There are 3 major ways this curious "land between" was different from the land of Zarahemla, the land Bountiful, or any other traditional Nephite land. 1) It had no name, only a description. 2) It was a narrow defensive military corridor and refugee camp 3 Nephi 3:22. 3) It was abandoned after the war ended and it had served its temporary purpose 3 Nephi 6:1,2.)
3 Nephi 24:18 Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked (citing Malachi 3:18)
3 Nephi 23:18 [ye shall discern] between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not
Mormon 1:8 war between the Nephites [and the Lamanites]
Mormon 1:8 this was was between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Mormon 2:1 war again between the Nephites and the Lamanites
Ether 9:12 war between the sons of Akish and Akish
The text is scrupulously consistent in its usage of the word "between." In every case, entity A is adjacent to but substantively different from twin, correlate or parallel entities B & C. This pattern has a profound implication for Book of Mormon geography. It means the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (or any other wide isthmus) cannot be the small neck of land described in Alma 22:32. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is an unbroken continuum of land mass including continental divide and rivers flowing toward both oceans. Tehuantepec as the small neck, integral with both the land northward and the land southward, overtly contradicts the textual pattern.
Part of the boundary between the land northward and the land southward may still pass through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Virtually all LDS Mesoamericanists who treat the Book of Mormon believe the Coatzacoalcos River was an important boundary on the Gulf of Campeche. Limhi's exploring party could still have traveled through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The text never says those 43 intrepid men passed through the narrow (small) neck of land. It only says they made it from the land of Nephi to the land of Cumorah and back again. Conjecture on the part of many that the narrow (small) neck of land is an isthmus and therefore all land movement between the lands northward and southward must have passed through it is not supported in the text. The narrow (small) neck of land is a coastal feature Ether 10:20 associated with one and only one sea, the west sea Alma 22:32, Alma 63:5 which means it is a narrow peninsula.
Our correlate for the small neck of land could hardly fit the text and its Early Modern English sense of meaning more precisely. Barra San Marcos is a long, slender peninsula separated from the mainland by a series of coastal lagoons.
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| Barra San Marcos & Environs near Tonala, Chiapas |