Emphasis Scriptures

The word 'why' occurs 366 times in the standard works.

114 of those occurances are found in the list of scriptures highlighted below. These verses have the highest concentration of the word 'why' in the standard works and contain 31.1% of all occurances. Assuming 30 seconds per verse, it would take about 40 minutes to read the entire list.

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Ps. 42:9-43:5 (8 in 8 verses)

Morm. 8:38-40 (5 in 3 verses)

Job 3:11-12 (4 in 2 verses)


2 Ne. 4:26-27 (4 in 2 verses)

 4:26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?

 4:27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?




1 Sam. 1:8 (3 in 1 verse)

Mosiah 12:29 (3 in 1 verse)

Alma 30:22 (3 in 1 verse)

Gen. 4:6 (2 in 1 verse)

Judg. 5:28 (2 in 1 verse)

1 Sam. 19:17 (2 in 1 verse)

1 Chr. 21:3 (2 in 1 verse)

Ps. 10:1 (2 in 1 verse)

Ps. 22:1 (2 in 1 verse)

Ps. 42:5 (2 in 1 verse)

Ps. 74:1 (2 in 1 verse)

Ps. 88:14 (2 in 1 verse)

Luke 24:38 (2 in 1 verse)

Acts 3:12 (2 in 1 verse)

Rom. 14:10 (2 in 1 verse)

1 Cor. 6:7 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 10:25 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 26:19 (2 in 1 verse)

Alma 30:13 (2 in 1 verse)

Hel. 7:17 (2 in 1 verse)

Morm. 8:33 (2 in 1 verse)

Moses 5:22 (2 in 1 verse)

JS-H 1:20 (2 in 1 verse)

JS-H 1:25 (2 in 1 verse)

JS-H 1:60 (2 in 1 verse)

Gen. 12:18-19 (2 in 2 verses)

Judg. 5:16-17 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Sam. 19:10-11 (2 in 2 verses)

2 Chr. 25:15-16 (2 in 2 verses)

Neh. 2:2-3 (2 in 2 verses)

Job 7:20-21 (2 in 2 verses)

Eccl. 7:16-17 (2 in 2 verses)

Jer. 14:8-9 (2 in 2 verses)

Matt. 15:2-3 (2 in 2 verses)

Mark 2:7-8 (2 in 2 verses)

Acts 5:3-4 (2 in 2 verses)

Rom. 9:19-20 (2 in 2 verses)

1 Cor. 10:29-30 (2 in 2 verses)

1 Cor. 15:29-30 (2 in 2 verses)

1 Ne. 3:31-4:1 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 14:19-20 (2 in 2 verses)

Alma 29:6-7 (2 in 2 verses)

Hel. 8:1-2 (2 in 2 verses)

Hel. 16:18-19 (2 in 2 verses)

Morm. 9:19-20 (2 in 2 verses)

Exact Word Count

  FULL PART ALL
OT 180 0 180
NT 102 0 102
BM 63 0 63
1 Ne. 4 0 4
2 Ne. 5 0 5
Jacob 3 0 3
Mosiah 5 0 5
Alma 23 0 23
Hel. 10 0 10
3 Ne. 3 0 3
Morm. 9 0 9
Ether 1 0 1
DC 8 0 8
PGP 13 0 13
TOTAL 366 0 366

2 Ne. 4:26
O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?

2 Ne. 4:27
And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?

2 Ne. 32:1
And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?