The Lord Commanded us to “search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah…” 3 Nephi 23:1-3
Isaiah was a prophet in Jerusalem for 40 years from 740 -701 BC roughly 100 years prior to Lehi’s family leaving that city.
Isaiah’s message centered on Christ, Righteousness, and the House of Israel.
Among the major themes touched on by Isaiah are:
1. The first and second coming of Jesus Christ.
Of the 433 separate verses of Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon, 391 say something about the attributes or mission of Christ. Nephi included Isaiah in his writings as a testimony of Jesus Christ (1 Nephi 19:23, 2 Nephi 11:2)
2. We must trust in and obey God.
3. Pride and the love of wealth are evil.
4. The house of Israel will be scattered and restored.
The writings of Isaiah deal with events of his day as well as events beyond his time, some of which have already come to pass and others are yet to be. The bulk of Isaiah’s prophecies deal with the coming of the Redeemer, both in his first appearance (‘for unto us a child is born,’ 9:6) and as the Great King at the last day, as the God of Israel. A major theme is that God requires righteousness of his people, and until they obey him they will be smitten and scattered by their enemies. But, in the end, Israel will be restored; the barren land will be made fruitful and able to support a large population; and the Lord, the Holy one of Israel, will dwell in the midst of His people, who will be called Zion. LDS Bible Dictionary
Isaiah and the Book of Mormon
About 30% of the Old Testament writings of Isaiah are found in the Book of Mormon (433 verses). About 200 verses are the same wording as in the Bible (King James Version, KJV). The differences in the other verses including changes in text, punctuation, spelling, and word order.
The Book of Mormon text of Isaiah is the oldest known copy of Isaiah (600 BC), the next oldest being the Dead Sea Scrolls at 100 AD. The KJV was taken from the Hebrew text of Isaiah. The Greek version of Isaiah was unavailable to Joseph Smith in 1829.
For Example 2 Nephi 12:16 KJV Greek BofM
Upon all the ships of the sea X X
Upon all the ships of Tarshish X X
Upon all the pleasant pictures X X X
1 comment:
When I read the KJV side by side with the JST, it becomes obvious that crucial content has been lost or changed from the original text over centuries of hand-scrolled parchment of Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Changes continue to be made today as 'simplified' or 'updated' versions of the Bible keep rolling out.
'We believe the bible as far as it is translated correctly.'
Mistranslations can be either:
1) Unintentional (beyond the knowledge of the uninspired scribe)
2) Malicious (such as the removal of the OT verse stating that the age of accountability is 8 years)
Comparing Nephi's Isaiah (as close to the source as we can get) to the KJV Isaiah is not a mirror-match of course, but it amazes me how well Isaiah's crypic writings have survived intact for 2,000 years of uninspired scribes.
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