Brian D. Stubbs explains:
Circumstantial or (hal-clauses) denote an accompanying state or circumstance that has previously come into existence, yet is still applicable to the time of the main clause. Two structures in English that structurally best illustrate the presence of Hebrew or Egyptian hal-clauses include the following:
1. being + past participle/adjective/noun
2. having + past participle (to denote a previous happening as background):
– Brian D. Stubbs – A Short Addition to Length: Some Relative Frequencies of Circumstantial Structures
An example of hal-clauses is found in Alma 2:1-2
And it came to pass in the commencement of the fifth year of their reign there began to be a contention among the people; for a certain man, being called Amlici, he being a very cunning man, yea, a wise man as to the wisdom of the world, he being after the order of the man that slew Gideon by the sword, who was executed according to the law—
Now this Amlici had, by his cunning, drawn away much people after him; even so much that they began to be very powerful; and they began to endeavor to establish Amlici to be a king over the people.
Where did Joseph Smith learn about hal-clauses? Why are there more than 5 times the amount of hal-clauses in the Book of Mormon compared to other writings of Joseph such as the Doctrine and Covenants?
See: