"And it came to pass".... an arcane phrase

[Xenophon PCDGS]

In the more arcane versions of the Bible, that phrase is often used. Was that phrase in common usage in Britain at the time when these versions were first published?

 

[najaB]

In the more arcane versions of the Bible, that phrase is often used. Was that phrase in common usage in Britain at the time when these versions were first published?

I presume by "more arcane versions" you mean the King James Version? If so, this translation was contemporaneous with William Shakespeare's writing and the phrase "it came to pass" occurs several times in his works. So yes, I'd say it was at least well-known if not commonly used at the time.

 

[Egg Centric]

At least it's only around 200 times in the KJV. It's over 1400 in the book of mormon apparently!

 

[randyrippley]

200? More like 727 and even then they used a different translation for the same phrase on many more occasions.

see https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:_Why_does_"and_it_came_to_pass"_appear_so_often_in_the_Book_of_Mormon%3F

Donald W. Parry, an instructor in biblical Hebrew at BYU, wrote in the Ensign:

The English translation of the Hebrew word wayehi (often used to connect two ideas or events), “and it came to pass,” appears some 727 times in the King James Version of the Old Testament. The expression is rarely found in Hebrew poetic, literary, or prophetic writings. Most often, it appears in the Old Testament narratives, such as the books by Moses recounting the history of the children of Israel.
As in the Old Testament, the expression in the Book of Mormon (where it appears some 1,404 times) occurs in the narrative selections and is clearly missing in the more literary parts, such as the psalm of Nephi (see 2 Ne. 4:20–25); the direct speeches of King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma, and Jesus Christ; and the several epistles.
But why does the phrase “and it came to pass” appear in the Book of Mormon so much more often, page for page, than it does in the Old Testament? The answer is twofold. First, the Book of Mormon contains much more narrative, chapter for chapter, than the Bible. Second, but equally important, the translators of the King James Version did not always render wayehi as “and it came to pass.” Instead, they were at liberty to draw from a multitude of similar expressions like “and it happened,” “and … became,” or “and … was.”
Wayehi is found about 1,204 times in the Hebrew Bible, but it was translated only 727 times as “and it came to pass” in the King James Version. Joseph Smith did not introduce such variety into the translation of the Book of Mormon. He retained the precision of “and it came to pass,” which better performs the transitional function of the Hebrew word.
The Prophet Joseph Smith may not have used the phrase at all—or at least not consistently—in the Book of Mormon had he created that record. The discriminating use of the Hebraic phrase in the Book of Mormon is further evidence that the record is what it says it is—a translation from a language (reformed Egyptian) with ties to the Hebrew language.

and https://rsc.byu.edu/preserved-translation/it-came-pass

“And it came to pass” occurs frequently in the Old Testament.[1] The actual Hebrew Bible has some 1,200 occurrences of the phrase, so the King James translators probably found it to be redundant and cumbersome. As a result, they often translated it as “and it became,” “and it was,” or “and.” On a number of occasions they simply ignored the expression altogether. By the time they finished their work on the King James Version, some 727 instances of the phrase remained in the text.
Given the Semitic background of the Book of Mormon, it is not surprising that “and it came to pass” is also a characteristic feature of that book, where it occurs more than a thousand times. It is so common that humorist Mark Twain once quipped that if Joseph Smith had left “and it came to pass” out of the Book of Mormon, the book would have been only a pamphlet.[2] Despite Twain’s hyperbole, the expression “and it came to pass” performs an important role in the Book of Mormon, helping to link clauses and events together.
Similar to the KJV translation, the frequency of “and it came to pass” in the Book of Mormon was reduced from what it was in the original translation, which had 1,494. Book of Mormon scholar Royal Skousen observes, “Interestingly, the original text of the Book of Mormon is closer to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament in having extra occurrences of the phrase ‘it came to pass,’ while the editing of the 1837 Book of Mormon text more closely matches the King James translation by leaving unexpressed or obscured various instances of ‘it came to pass.’”[3]

Also similar to Old Testament usage, “and it came to pass” appears most often in Book of Mormon historical accounts, where it serves as a narrative connector and time marker. In the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon the phrase is less frequently found in psalms, lamentations, proverbs, blessings, curses, prayers, speeches, and dialogues where the first-person pronoun is used. For example, in the Book of Mormon the expression is missing from the psalm of Nephi (2 Nephi 4:16–35); the speeches of King Benjamin, Abinadi, Alma, Jesus Christ, and others; and many of the book’s epistles.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Another phrase that confused me in primary school was that of "plentiful redemption". I wonder what was being taught at the time.

 

[Cdd89]

And they brought him on a stretcher a man who was sick of the palsy. And they cried unto him: "Maestro, this man is sick of the palsy." And the Lord said: "If I had to spend my whole life on a stretcher, I'd be pretty sick of the palsy, too!"

(Rowan Atkinson)