A question of book of mormon scholarship is whether the several chapters or passages of isaiah cited or paraphrased in the book derive from an ancient text or whether they have been copied with some revision from the king james version. In the bible and book of mormon gospel studies series gospel studies cedar fort by david j. That the book of mormon quotes from isaiah is not a problem, except that joseph smiths 1830 translation reads nearly verbatim to the 1611 king james translation. Some 58 are paraphrased and 11 others are variants and or paraphrases. Isaiah variants in the book of mormon religious studies. The 1920 and 1981 editions of the book of mormon, 2 nephi 16. Two factors led to my study of the isaiah variants in the book of mormon. Isaiah 214 as contained in 2 nephi 1224, and a significant portion of isaiah.
The book of mormon explicitly quotes the prophet isaiah, containing 19 chapters of the kjv of isaiah in their entirety, along with parts of a few other chapters. Isaiahs era included strife between the kingdoms of israel the northern kingdom and judah the southern kingdom during the reign of king ahaz c. In short, a professional, nonlds translator translating the book of mormon opted to use the already existing translation of the bible in that language instead of retranslating the isaiah chapters. Meaning of the isaiah chapters in the book of mormon.
Dec 26, 2019 new book makes it easier to understand isaiah in the book of mormon submitted by bmc team on july 31, 2018. Though there are potentially several ways to answer this question, one that may help readers better grasp the isaiah chapters in the book of mormon is what lds scholar john w. Mar 27, 2021 the isaiah institute was created in the year 2000 by the hebraeus foundation to disseminate the message of the prophet isaiah circa 742701 b. The vision concerning judah and jerusalem that isaiah son of amoz saw during the reigns of uzziah, jotham, ahaz and hezekiah, kings of judah. One of the best known passages in the entire book of isaiah is the magisterial. Jan 04, 2018 about onethird of isaiah s sixtysix chapters are found in the book of mormon. Scholars believe, for reasons we will outline below, that the historical first isaiah lived in the 8th and 7th century bce while the deutero isaiah material would not be written until after the exile into babylon, which was 586 bce. This is somewhat odd because the bible was not divided into chapters until the th century by a theologian named stephen langton. Indeed, book of mormon chapter summaries in the present edition encourage the reader to compare the related isaiah passages. Rhonda pickering part 1 mormon secret combination book. The essays in this book, written by some of the finest lds scholars, take a variety of approaches to help readers make the most of the isaiah passages in the book of mormon.
But, of course, we cannot conclusively determine whether anything like these possible scenarios. Mar 03, 2016 as already discussed, much can be gained by comparing the themes in the nephite prophetic view with nephis quotes from isaiah. Plagiarism the book of mormon narrative says that the jews who left jerusalem for the new world had with them the scriptures written up until that point 600 b. Isaiah 1 is the first chapter of the book of isaiah in the hebrew bible or the old testament of the christian bible. In this time of confusion, the greatest christian theologian of the day wrote a book titled the city of god. Isaiah was the 8thcentury bc israelite prophet after whom the book of isaiah is named within the text of the book of isaiah, isaiah himself is referred to as the prophet, but the exact relationship between the book of isaiah and any such historical isaiah is complicated. When the book of mormon quotes from isaiah, especially when it quotes entire chapters, it often starts and ends a quotation exactly by the corresponding chapters in the kjv. The growth of the book 9 was a gradual process, its final form dating from perhaps as late as the 5th century bc, a date suggested by the arrangement of the materials and the late additions. I use the book the book of mormon made easier by david ridges and that has totally helped me break down these chapters. The lord covenanted with enos to bring forth the book of mormon to the lamanites, enos 1. The book of mormon quotes twentyone complete chapters of isaiah and parts of others.
From the book of mormon it is known that isaiah taught baptism at least one other time. Nephi included these passages from isaiah in his record in order to help his audience understand important prophecies from the lord regarding the future of the human race. It is a record of gods dealings with ancient inhabitants of the americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. Authorship of the book of isaiah in light of the book of mormon. Tvedtnes, isaiah variants in the book of mormon, in isaiah and the.
The book of mormon quotes extensively from the book of isaiah, including entire chapters, and in many cases verbatim to the king james translation. One of the things that can make isaiah confusing is its abstract and. Yes hes sort of a widow in a way and so a lot of his writings. The writings of isaiah in the book of mormon search isaiah.
There are more principles in these chapters than you have time to discuss in one class. Oct 26, 2019 by carefully reading nephis commentary, looking for patterns in the overall structure of the text, we gain further insight as to why he includes the portions of isaiah into the text of the book of mormon. Having come from israel, nephi had a copy of the old testament as these corresponding quotes are written before the birth of christ. Isaiah was disgusted and prophesied that babylon would one day return to jerusalem to get those palace treasures and carry off the people of judah captive to babylon. A more thorough analysis of the many differences in isaiah passages quoted in the book of mormon relative to the king james text has been undertaken more recently by john tvedtnes, who offers substantial evidence for the plausibility of the book of mormon variants john a. My last post took a look at possible isaianic references stretched between isaiah 15 and isaiah 47, with a particular focus on isaiah 29, which receives more extensive treatment in the book of mormon than any of the chapters surrounding it. Pattern and purpose of the isaiah commentaries in the book of. There are a total of 21 isaiah chapters in the book of mormon partial or full chapters, with 52 added verses, making up total of 433 isaiah verses, 199 of which are identical to the kjv of the bible. Book of mormon commentary link step by step through the. Making sense or not of isaiah in the book of mormon wheat. The scope of this paper does not allow a detailed explication of the isaiah chapters in the book of mormon. Zenos, zenock, ezias, isaiah, and neum the last might be. This chapter begins with a majestic scene of yahweh, the universal judge. Of isaiah prophetic writings, the resurrected lord taught, search these things diligently.
If one includes mosiah 14 which contains isaiah 53 and 3 nephi 22 which contains isaiah 54, the book of mormon includes 17 of isaiah s 66 chapters. In order, they include isaiah chapters 4852, 214, 29, and 5354. Ds groundbreaking research and analysis of the book of isaiah provides the ideal medium for publishing isaiah s endtime message to the world. Isaiah 1 niv the vision concerning judah and bible gateway.
Although the brass plates referred to in the book of mormon are said to. The traditional view is that all 66 chapters of the book of isaiah were written by one man, isaiah, possibly in two. Firm foundation book of mormon evidence conference, april 810, 2021 helaman 63 nephi 6. As weve covered in the king james bible and the book. So here is another installment on the book of mormon previous post on 1 nephi 1. Feb 22, 2016 using his vision recorded in 1 nephi chapters 1114 as a framework, nephi used isaiah as a witness to the visions of the future that he had also received from the lord. The extensive use of isaiah poses several problems.
The book of mormon, however, has three phrases at this section, and thus could never have been an original part of the text. In it, he tried to explain how the fall of the western roman. About onethird of isaiah s sixtysix chapters are found in the book of mormon. It has been declared and proclaimed by a certain school of bible students, commentators and scholars, that the book of isaiah was written not entirely by isaiah the prophet, the son of amoz in many respects the greatest of the prophets of that agebut that the book is the work of at least two men. In the light of modern biblical criticism these quotations raise problems that have a serious bearing on the integrity of the nephite record as a whole. Just how isaiah was prophetic in the old testament.
Come, follow me for sunday school the church of jesus. Daily book of mormon 2 nephi 68, 2 april 2021 facebook. Nephi is known for quoting isaiah frequently, so one might wonder why he chose the particular isaiah chapters he did. The isaiah problem in the book of mormon chap 11 shields. Christ has instructed us to learn isaiah s words, so as confusing as they can be, make an effort to learn the meanings behind these chapters. When this is done without bias, the changes found in the nephite record testify to the authenticity of this work and the inspiration involved in its production see john a. In this latter chapter he goes beyond the origi nal sense of the isaiah chapters and, focusing on the theme of the return of israel to its land, describes how this will. New archaeological evidence for book of mormon prophet isaiah. Book of mormonanachronismsbiblicaldeuteroisaiah fair. Authorship of the book of isaiah in light of the book of. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to latter day saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421.
The new international commentary on the old testament. The first isaiah chapters are believed by scholars to be from 9, while the deutero isaiah or second isaiah cover chapters 4055, and trito isaiah or third isaiah cover 5666. For the most part, the book of mormon includes the most important of these 66 chapters. Wolverine creative is an award winning digital media, web design and pr agency. Chapters 1 through 39 deal with the ministry of isaiah, and chapters 40. The book of mormon shall stand as a testimony against the world, ether 5. The book of isaiah, chapters 4066 the new international commentary on the old testament book 2 of 2. The new international commentary on the old testament 4. The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible kjv. Apr 02, 2021 these these chapters are kind of fun because a good chunk of them is from the book of isaiah so the bible, which i love the book of isaiah, but honestly, sometimes its pretty hard to understand hes kind.
May 27, 2011 book of mormon prophets taught from the brass plate records, not only from chapters 9, which are usually assigned by scholars to the prophet isaiah of the eighth century b. The chapters of isaiah that we find in the book of mormon were taken largely by joseph smith from the kjv bible, instead of being translated from nephis version. Isaiah variants in the book of mormon religious studies center. Pattern and purpose of the isaiah commentaries in the book.
Quoted in the book of mormon are nearly all of isaiah chapters 214, 29, and 4854. Finding doctrine and meaning in book of mormon isaiah religious. However, i feel that the book of mormon can not only withstand the challenge, but the issue can actually be used to illuminate the nature of isaiah and shed light on why this is such a profound book. The book of mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the bible. The following chart shows where these twentyone isaiah chapters are found in the book of mormon. The last full isaiah chapters quoted in the book of mormon that discuss the restoration of the house of israel are isaiah 52 and 54.
Isaiah 29 and the book of mormon byu scholarsarchive. Relationship of the joseph smith translation to the book of mormon. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah other significant connections between the two books include book of mormon words and phrases that only appear in. Bicola, tricola, paired tricola, and isaiah variants in 2. Kjv in the book of mormon case closed kma book of mormon. A helpful listing is found in legrande daviess chart of isaiah citations in the book of mormon, in daniel h.
Meaning of the isaiah chapters in the book of mormon river. Of the 478 verses in the book of mormon quoted from the book of isaiah, 201 agree with the king james reading while 207 show variations. Deutero isaiah verses in the book of mormon in the book of mormon, there are many chapters of isaiah directly incorporated from the king james version kjv of the bible, complete with translation errors that were obviously not possible to have been recorded on the gold plates since the kjv was not available until thousands of years later. It is to the variants that we will give our attention here. In some cases, entire passages are duplicated in the book of mormon. Welch pointed out that nephi prophesied of four distinct. The book of mormon confirms significance of writings of isaiah. These scholars use the prophets of the book of mormon as knowledgeable guides, examining how and why those ancient writers used and interpreted isaiah in order to clarify for modern readers what the isaiah sections in the. Zeniff leads a group from zarahemla to possess the land of lehinephithe lamanite king permits them to inherit the land mosiah, chapters 922. The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. What vision guides nephis choice of isaiah chapters. Gardners view was accurate, it would still be problematic for the book of mormon historically, as isaiah 47.
Original spelling and grammar from both the kjv and the book of mormon have been maintained. Book of mormon does not require all of the isaiah material found in the book of mormon to have been written by a single individualonly that the content and final form of those chapters were authoritatively attributed to isaiah prior to 600 b. What variants are there in the book of mormon s isaiah text. The obvious conclusion is that smith had access to a septuagint translation, or, more likely, to a commentary on isaiah that included the septuagint reading. The book of mormon and the book of isaiah book of mormon. Watch our overview video on the first 39 chapters of the book of isaiah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Why did mormon include 22 of the 66 chapters of isaiah in the book of mormon when he knew we would have the old testament. The byu religious studies center has recently published a new book that will surely be helpful to anyone interested in understanding isaiah in the book of mormon.
Nephi was one of the leading prophets in the book of mormon. Nov 21, 2018 the essays in this book, written by some of the finest lds scholars, take a variety of approaches to help readers make the most of the isaiah passages in the book of mormon. Nephis use of isaiah in the book of mormon lds scripture. The book of isaiah, chapters 9 the new international commentary on the old testament book 1 of 2. Hezekiah courted this delegation and displayed for them the palace treasures. Your study of isaiah made easier in the bible and the book of mormon. Joseph smiths interpretation of isaiah in the book of mormon. It occurs 12 times in the first 39 chapters and 14 times in chapters. The people of israel are apostate, rebellious, and corrupt. Using a literary structure called bracketing, nephi gives us a hidden picture of the great and marvelous work of the latter days. Have you ever compared the kjv isaiah to the book of mormon isaiah verses. The books of 1 and 2 nephi include eighteen chapters of the book of isaiah in addition to other quotations and paraphrases. See more ideas about isaiah, book of isaiah, infographic.
Rush, author of a remnant shall return, daniel 11, and revelation the vision of john the divine, walks through the meaning. Jacob, nephis little brother, reaches the people from isaiah s words. Feb 18, 2020 in the lds curriculum, we are now plodding through the isaiah chapters in second nephi. Of the 388 verses of isaiah in the book of mormon joseph smith changed 199 of them. Some of the other great isaiah chapters deal with the messiah and his second coming see isaiah 24, 42, 51. Im going to focus on 2 nephi 9, which follows chapters 7 and 8 isaiah 50 and 51, more or less and presents itself as a commentary on those two chapters. The claim is made that the chapters of isaiah from the second to the thirtyninth inclusive, were really written by isaiah, and that thence on to the end of the sixtysixth chapter, the last in the book, the subject matter is not the writing of isaiah at all, but that of another man, who falsely ascribed the authorship to the prophet. Chapter the nations of the gentiles a great and abominable church americas history foreshadowed the holy bible to proceed from the jews the book of mormon to come forth unto the gentiles chapter 14 alternative blessing or cursing for the gentiles two churches only doom of the mother of harlots mission of john the revelatorend. In addition to the consecutive chapters of isaiah plagiarized in 2 nephi, 2 more isaiah chapters were plagiarized in 1 nephi, another 2 in 2 nephi separate from the earlier ones, 2 more in 3 nephi, and one in mosiah, reaching 20 total chapters from isaiah in the book of mormon. The last full chapters of isaiah quoted in the book of mormon, isaiah 52 and 54, are quoted by the savior himself in 3 nephi 16, 20, and 22 and are preceded by a lengthy and detailed commentary beginning in 3 nephi 16. Several chapters of isaiah are dedicated to explaining gods judgments upon peoples and nations. In addition to this table below, at least 52 other verses from isaiah are found throughout the book of mormon. I compiled this table using a variety of online sources. The book of mormon was written for the intent that we may believe the bible, morm.
Nephis version of isaiah 4852 that he quoted on his plates was the primitive, early version written by 1st isaiah which might not. Understanding isaiah in the book of mormon thus presumes an understanding of the terms house of israel, covenant, and gentile, which predominate in the isaiah commentaries in the book of mormon and do not occur elsewhere in the book. Choosing selective stories from their wilderness journeys 1 nephi 1519 and quoting two chapters of isaiah in full 1 nephi 2021. Two large blocks of isaiah chapters 214 and 4854 are scattered among four books 1 nephi, 2 nephi, mosiah, and 3 nephi. Deuteroisaiah in the book of mormon lds discussions.
Remember, the only 2nd isaiah chapters that show up in the book of mormon are isaiah 4852 and we have just the one echo from trito isaiah. These two chapters are accompanied by a lengthy and detailed commentary by the lord himself in 3 nephi 16 and 20 to 22. A complete identification of all chapters and verses of isaiah quoted in the book of mormon along with an analysis of each. Chapters 9 consist of numerous sayings and reports of isaiah along with several narratives about the prophet that are attributed to his disciples. Barney explains that this is a common practice among translators. In total, approximately 30 percent of the book of isaiah is quoted in the book of mormon one source counts 478 verses in the book of mormon which are quoted from isaiah.
The one thing that tells us beyond a doubt that isaiah, the prophet, wrote all of it, is his use of the title holy one of israel. In 2012, wolverine creative was recognized as one of the top 3 advertising agencies in wisconsin by readers of corporate report wisconsin. A latterday saint reading of isaiah religious studies. The first shows which isaiah chapters are quoted in the book of mormon including their order and location in the book of mormon as well as a summary of each quoted chapter to encourage speculation as to why the writers of the book of mormon would have wanted to include that particular chapter in their record. Isaiah 1 the church of jesus christ of latterday saints.
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