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1 The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
It should also be noted that while this introduction begins the citation of Isaiah, and marks the beginning of Isaiah’s text, it does not mark the beginning of Nephi’s text. Our current chapter 11 is Nephi’s introduction to Isaiah, and is not separated from the beginning of Isaiah’s prophecy in the 1830 edition. Thus the 1830 edition has a single chapter which is represented by chapters 11-15 in the current text. Textual analysis: The text of Isaiah 2:1-4 is nearly identical to that found in Micah 4:1-4 Micah 4:1 1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. Micah 4:2 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Micah 4:3 3 ¶ And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Micah 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it. Both Micah and Isaiah are thought to be written in the same basic time frame, and it is possible that one saw the writings of the other, or both are citing a prophecy known to both, the source of which is not available today. "Scholars differ in their opinions on which of these possibilities best explains the textual similarities." (Ludlow, Victor. Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet. Deseret Book, 1982, p. 86.)
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.
The specific prophecy is that the "mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains." In some ways this is a confusing verse, as it appears to have a mountain established in the tops of the mountains. However, it is important to understand the ancient cultural context of "mountain." Anthropological Information, the Ancient Temple: It is important to remember that for the ancients, the temple was much more a place than a structure. For the ancient world, what made the location important was its ability to act as a bridge between this world and the next, the fact that a structure might exist on that location was secondary. For example, note the following analysis from Mircea Eliade: "Every sacred space implies a hierophany, an irruption of the sacred that results in detaching a territory from the surrounding cosmic milieu and making it qualitatively different. When Jacob in his dream at Haran saw a ladder reaching to heave, with angels ascending and descending on it, and heard the Lord speaking from above it saying: "I am the Lord God of Abraham," he awoke and was afraid and cried out: "How dreadful is this place: this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heave." And he took the stone that had been his pillow, and set it up as a monument, and poured oil on the top of it. He called the place Beth-el, that is, house of God (Genesis 28:12-19). The symbolism implicit in the expression "gate of heaven" is rich and complex; the theophany that occurs in a place consecrates it by the very fact that it makes it open above – that is, in communication with heaven, the paradoxical point of passage from one mode of being to another." (Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane. Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1959:26). It is no coincidence that Jacob sees the location of his experience not only as a "gate of heaven," but even more importantly, as "beth-el – house of God." For Jacob, the experience made the location the house of God even before he erected a monument to commemorate and make more permanent the location. For the ancient world in which Israel participated, the correlation between sacred space and temple was paramount, and was typically interlinked with the concept of the mountain as a sacred location for the communication between God and man. When there is no building which is a temple, Moses meets God on the top of a mountain. This is completely in accord with the understanding of the Ancient Near East. John M. Lundquist has collected a 19 point typology of the Ancient Near Easter conception of a temple: 1. The temple is the architectural embodiment of the cosmic mountain. 2. The cosmic mountain represents the primordial hillock, the place which first emerged from the waters that covered the earth during the creative process. In Egypt, for example, all temples are seen as representing the primordial hillock. 3. The temple is often associated with the waters of life which flow from a spring within the building itself – or rather the temple is viewed as incorporating within itself such a spring or as having been built upon the spring. The reason that such springs exist in temples is that they were perceived as the primeval waters of creation… The temple is thus founded upon and stands in contact with the waters of creation. These waters carry the dual symbolism of the chaotic waters that were organized during the creation and of the life-giving, saving nature of the waters of life. 4. The temple is associated with the tree of life. 5. The temple is built on separate, sacral, set-apart space. 6. The temple is oriented toward the four world regions or cardinal directions, and to various celestial bodies such as the polar star. As such, it is, or can be, an astronomical observatory, the main purpose of which is to assist the temple priests in regulating the ritual calendar. The earthly temple is also seen as a copy or counterpart of a heavenly model. 7. Temples, in their architectonic orientation, express the idea of a successive ascension toward heaven. The Mesopotamian ziggurat or staged temple tower is the best example of this architectural principle. It was constructed of three, five, or seven levels or stages. Monumental staircases led to the upper levels, where smaller temples stood. the basic ritual pattern represented in these structures is that the worshippers ascended the staircase to the top, the deity descended from heaven, and the two met in the small temple which stood at the top of the structure. 8. The plan and measurements fo the temple are revealed by God to the king or prophet, and the plan must be carefully carried out. The Babylonian king Nabopolassar stated that he took the measurements of Etemenanki, the temple tower in the main temple precinct at Babylon, under the guidance of the Babylonian gods Shamash, Adad, and Marduk, and that "he kept the measurements in his memory as a treasure." 9. The temple is the central, organizing, unifying institution in ancient Near Eastern society. 	a. The temple is associated with abundance and prosperity… 	b. The destruction or loss of the temple is seen as calamitous… 10. Inside the temple, images of deities as well as living kings, temple priests, and worshippers are washed, anointed, clothed, fed, enthroned, and symbolically initiated into the presence of deity, and thus into eternal life. Further, New Year rites held in the temple include the reading and dramatic portrayal of texts which recite a pre-earthly war in heaven; a victory in that war by the forces of good, led by a chief deity; and the creation and establishment of the cosmos, cities, temples, and the social order. The sacred marriage is carried out at this time. 11. The temple is associated with the realm of the dead, the underworld, the afterlife, the grave. The unifying features here are the rites and worship of ancestors. Tombs can be, and in Egypt and elsewhere are, essentially temples... 12. Sacral, communal meals are carried out in connection with temple ritual, often at the conclusion of or during a covenant ceremony. 13. The tablets of destiny (or tables of the decrees) are consulted in the cosmic sense by the gods, and yearly in a special temple chamber, the ubshukinna in the temple of Eninnu in the time of the Sumerian king Gudea of Lagash. It was by this means that the will of deity was communicated to the people through the king or prophet for a given year. 14. God’s word is revealed in the temple usually in the holy of holies, to priests or prophets attached to the temple or to the religious system that it represents. 15. There is a close interrelationship between the temple and law in the ancient Near Est. The building or restoration of a temple is perceived as the moving force behind a restating or "codifying" of basic legal principles, and the ‘righting" and organizing of proper social order. The building or refurbishing of temples is central to the covenant process. 16. The temple is a place of sacrifice. 17. The temple and its ritual are enshrouded in secrecy. This secrecy relates to the sacredness of the temple precinct and the strict division in ancient times between sacred and profane space. 18. The temple and its cult are central to the economic structure of ancient Near Eastern society. 19. The temple plays a legitimizing political role in the ancient Near East. (Lundquist, John M. "The Common Temple Ideology of the Ancient Near East." In The Temple in Antiquity. Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1984, pp. 57-59.) Scriptural analysis: Isaiah covers three items in this verse, a time, a place, and an action. The time is the last days. The place is a temple built on the top of the mountains. As the dual reference to mountains unfolds, this becomes an emphasis on the sacred power of this location as a mode of communication with the Lord. This is a temple of temples, a mountain on mountains. It will be the preeminent location for the communication between God and man. Finally, Isaiah notes an action; "all nations will flow unto it." The power of his communication between God and man will be so powerful that all nations will eventually take notice. By "flowing unto it" Isaiah is both literal and figurative. Nations will come to the location, but most importantly, they will come to the word of God that is present at that location.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
In the last days, this will be recognized by those of pure hearts, and they will be spiritually pulled to the temple as the means of instructing them in the way to "walk in his paths." Symbolic analysis: The last two phrases of this verse form an interested inverted paired set: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Central to the two pairs is the theme of the law/word of the Lord. Surrounding this statement are two locations, Zion and Jerusalem. In this case, they are seen as symbolically if not physically the same location. Thus the paired phrases become identical, and repeated for emphasis. It is not at all unusual for Isaiah to conflate Jerusalem and Zion, as the temple on the tops of the mountains becomes the symbolic center for the world, and Jerusalem and its temple were seen in precisely that context: "…it follows that the true world is always in the middle, at the Center, for it is here that there is a break in the plane and hence communication among the three cosmic zones [heaven, earth, underworld]. Whatever the extent of the territory involved, the cosmos that it represents is always perfect. An entire country (e.g. Palestine) a city (Jerusalem), a sanctuary (the Temple in Jerusalem), all equally well present an imago mundi. Treating of the symbolism of the Temple, Flavius Josephus wrote that the court represented the sea (i.e. the lower regions), the Holy Place represented the earth, and the Holy of Holies heaven (Ant. Jud. III,7,7). It is clear then, that both the imago mundi and the Center are repeated in the inhabited world. Palestine, Jerusalem, and the Temple severally and concurrently represent the image of the universe and the Center of the World. This multiplicity of centers and this reiteration of the image of the world on smaller and smaller scales constitute one of the specific characteristics of traditional societies." (Eliade, 1959, p. 42-3). For Isaiah, the sacred nature of Jerusalem places it at the center, at the location of this "temple of temples." Of course in the last days, Latter-Day Saints believe that this temple on the tops of the mountains refers to a "new Center" which flows from the Utah valley and the temple there located. While there is a physical structure in Utah, and there are physical mountains, the reference once again should be understood to be to the communicative function rather than the structure. The temple on the mountains in the last days is more truly the prophet than any building. From the context of the next verse, this establishment of the true prophetic communication might also look yet even farther forward in time.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks—nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways.
26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them. 2 Ne. 15:27 27 None shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken; 2 Ne. 15:28 28 Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent, and their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion.
Both of these prophetic views of the end are correct, but at different times. The image of the beginning of Isaiah is the final victory of the Lord, and the peace of the Lord. The image at the end is the conquering Lord that the nations will fear, an event preceding the peace of the Lord. Scriptural analysis: Isaiah begins his call to repentance. In the past tense he notes that the house of Jacob has turned from their God and into sin: "for ye have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways."
6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
From the New American Standard: For Thou (O Lord), hast abandoned Thy people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with influences from the east, And they (hearken unto) soothsayers like the Philistines, And they strike bargains with the children of foreigners. From Avraham Gileadi: For thou, O Lord, has forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because, like the Philistines, they provide themselves with mystics from the East and are content with the infantile heathen. (Gileadi, The Book of Isaiah. P. 99) The translations agree that there is a problem with influences from the east, and that the Israelites take counsel from the soothsayers or mystics. It is the final verse that has the widest variation. It does appear that the more frequent appearance of "children of foreigners" is the more preferred reading. Scriptural analysis: There are two important sins laid at the door of Israel, listening to soothsayers, and doing something with "the children of foreigners." Both of these are part of the influences of the "East." The Lord is unhappy with Israel’s practice of consulting soothsayers because it is a false copy of the revelation of their God to a prophet. The soothsayers claim to be in touch with some element of the divine, and through that contact are able to predict the future. The human race has always been interested in the near and personal future, and this is precisely the domain of the soothsayers. However, the soothsayers are not in contact with the God of Israel, and they provide only an imitation of true communication from the divine. It is for this reason that it becomes such a grievous sin, Israel has found a substitute for their God, and there should be no other god, nor any other intermediary in the will of the divine. The question of the children is more complex because the translations differ. Both Gileadi and the NAS appear to prefer commerce as the issue, but it is difficult to see how commerce violates so completely the will of God. It is more likely that the "children of foreigners" is a problem related very specifically to "children" of foreigners. George Lamsa interprets the passage thus: "The alien children were taken captive during the wars and some of them were brought up as members of the family. It was against the law to mix thus with pagan people. The Israelites tried to keep their race holy and pure, but, at times, owing to marriages with alien women and the adoption of children, this was impossible… The rearing of strange children was discouraged by the Mosaic law. During the wars they were permitted to spare some of the virgin females, but they were told to destroy all the males. "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." (Num. 31:17-18). The Israelites were to remain a pure race. Marriages with women of other races were discouraged. They were prohibited from giving their daughters to the uncircumcised (Gen. 34:14). Even after the captivity they were not permitted to marry Gentile women {Ezra 9:1-2). (Lamsa, George. Old Testament Light. P. 619). The commandments to racial purity appear to be much more important than any business interactions with foreigners, which do not carry such heavy prohibitions. Therefore, this seems to be the more likely meaning. The Lord is unhappy with the influences from the East, in this verse, the importation of soothsayers that counterfeit true revelation, and the importation of the ‘children of foreigners’ which dilute the purity of Israel as a people.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. 2 Ne. 12:8 8 Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
The temptation of contact with the East is that riches of the world come from such contact. However, along with those riches have come other practices which are not beneficial to Israel. In the theme that Isaiah is developing, the riches become the cause of some of Israel’s sins. The first cause is the increase in idolatry. Along with the riches comes the lifestyle of the East, and the gods of the East have been welcomed along with the wealth.
9 And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not.
Isa. 2:9 9 And the mean man boweth (not) down, and the great man humbleth himself (not): therefore forgive [them] (him) not. The effect of this alteration is a shift in the contextual meaning of the verse, and a movement from history into theology. From a theological standpoint, it is certain that it is better to be humble. In this context, Ludlow comments: "Note particularly in verse 9 how the Book of Mormon clarifies what would otherwise be a very confusing verse. The Old Testament seems to suggest that one should not forgive those who repent and humble themselves. The account in 2 Nephi, on the other hand, explains that the people did not humble themselves. And therefore were not forgiven." (Ludlow, Victor. Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet. p. 90). In isolation, the Book of Mormon reading does improve the sense of the necessity of humility, but in the context of verse 8, the Old Testament reading sees the bowing down and the humbling as before the idols, not before God, and therefore should not be forgiven. In the Old Testament context, the problem isn’t humility, but bowing down before idols. This context is altered in the Book of Mormon text to remove the connection to the idols, and shift the meaning to the more spiritual aspects of humility.
10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee.
The time shifting in this chapter continues, with the discussion of past sins leading to the discussion of future retribution.
11 And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 2 Ne. 12:12 12 For the day of the Lord of Hosts soon cometh upon all nations, yea, upon every one; yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. Literary analysis: Verses 6-9 presented the catalog of the then current sins of Israel. Verse 10 introduced the future reaction of the Lord to those sins, and now in verses 11-22 the specifics of the future reaction of the Lord are catalogued. This future brings the judgement of God upon Israel, and parallels directly the sins of Israel with the cleansing redemption of God. This contrast comes only in the gross sense, and not in the specifics. Where Isaiah had the opportunity of providing a literarily precise parallel between the coming justification of the Lord and the sins of Israel, he parallels the events only in the large scale, and not on the specifics. Thus the haughty are brought down, and the idols are removed (verse 18 might be paralleled with verse 8, and verses13-16 with verse 7) but the correlations are not in tight parallelisms. That they are to be seen a roughly parallel is certain, based on the noted connections and the parallel between the hiding in caves of verse 10 and 19/21. Rather than a direct correlation between cause and retribution, Isaiah provides the tighter parallels in the retribution section, where a gross theme is used to bracket specifics. Note the very parallel verses listed below in their parallel sets: Haughtiness brought down: 2 Ne. 12:11 11 And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 2 Ne. 12:17 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Hiding in the caves and rocks: 2 Ne. 12:10 10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee. 2 Ne. 12:19 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 2 Ne. 12:21 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the majesty of his glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Destruction of idols 2 Ne. 12:18 18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 2 Ne. 12:20 20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; These parallels are not only obvious, in verses 11 and 17, and in 10, 19, and 21 they contain identical phrases. The parallels are clearly purposeful, and reiterative. The point of the repetition of nearly the same material is to emphasize that material. Thus Israel is not only to be chastised in the future, but the threefold chastisement will emphasizes both the seriousness and the divine nature of the future chastisement (3 being the number of deity).
13 Yea, and the day of the Lord shall come upon all the cedars of Lebanon, for they are high and lifted up; and upon all the oaks of Bashan;
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills, and upon all the nations which are lifted up, and upon every people;
Isa. 2:14 14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up. The addition is that it becomes the people and nations that are lifted up. Once again, this fits roughly into the context of the Isaiah’s discourse, but not precisely into the meaning. Isaiah does cite the people, but does so just as the cedars of Lebanon and the high places are symbolic (the high towers and fenced walls representing the cities, and therefore the people in them). The specific bringing low of the people occurs in verse 15 in Isaiah, thus becoming a repetition in the Book of Mormon where it is a continuing symbolic set in Isaiah. Scriptural analysis: Verse 14 is more specific where verses 13 more symbolic. Nevertheless, while the Book of Mormon is being more specific about the Lord conquering all people who might be lifted up, we should not miss Isaiah’s reference to the gods of those peoples represented by the phrase "upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills." In Biblical terms, the references to "high places," specifically trees or gardens in the high places or the hills is a reference to Near Eastern worship that had representations of their gods in groves in the hills and mountains. These phrases in particular should be seen as being correlated with the more specific verses speaking of the destruction of the idols.
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall; 2 Ne. 12:16 16 And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
"The ships of the sea" (v. 16) represent the people’s commercial enterprises, especially the "ships of Tarshish," which were noted for their agbility to travel long distances, their strength as war vessels, and their large storage capacity as commercial carries. The "beautiful craft" (NAS) or "pleasant pictures (KJV) were apparently the pleasure crafts or ships in which the wealthy traveled throughout the Mediterranean." (Ludlow, p. 91).
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Note the very close parallel language between verse 19 and verse 21.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 2 Ne. 12:21 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the majesty of his glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of? However one might read the complexities of verse 6, this verse must be seen in direct parallel to that verse: 2 Ne. 12:6 6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Israel’s sin is that rather than looking to its God, it is looking to foreigners. It is the foreigners who have the wealth and the power, and therefore Israel envies them in the most dangerous of ways - imitation. In verse 22 the Lord recognizes the source of Israel’s walk in evil ways, the reason that they "have all gone astray, every one to his wicked ways" (verse 5). They are listening to man rather than to their God. God reminds them of the very temporal and temporary nature of man, by noting that his "breath is in his nostrils." Man is subject to death. He is fleeting. God is permanent. |
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| by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998 |
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