In an attempt to critique the Doctrine and
Covenants, one recently published
tract contains the following “criticism” on p. 47:
Isaiah and Esaias
Esaias
is the Greek name for Isaiah of the Old Testament. Scripture search on lds.org
reveals 21 New Testament and no Old Testament matches for Esaias, along
with 32 Old Testament and no New Testament matches for Isaiah. The
contexts show that they refer to the same individual. A few examples:
Isaiah 1:9 –
“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should
have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”
|
Romans 9:29 –
“And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we
had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.”
|
Isaiah 42:1 –
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I
have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”
|
18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my
soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew
judgment to the Gentiles.”
|
Romans 10:16 –
“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report?”
|
Here, Joseph refers to Isaiah and Esaias
as two separate individuals:
Abraham lived
about 800 years before
Greece existed. The name Esaias didn’t come about until the Greeks modified the
Hebrew prophet’s name Isaiah. Why does someone from Abraham’s time have the
same name as this Greek modification?
Actually, there is no problem.
There are actually many people other than
the prophet Isaiah who has the name “Isaiah” (Heb: יהושׁוע ). Examples of this
include:
Jesiah (1 Chron 12:6; 23:20)
Jesaiah (1 Chron 3:21; Nem 11:7)
These names are rendered Ησαΐας and Ιεσια
and other terms in the LXX. These variations of the name in English
translations are chosen, in part, to differentiate these Isaiahs from the prophet
Isaiah. We see a parallel in this in the variations of Ιούδας in the New
Testament, rendering it "Judas" for Judah, the brother of Jacob (Matt
1:2); Judas Iscariot (Matt 10:4); and one of Christ's brothers (Matt 13:55),
while also rendering it as "Jude" for the author of the Epistle of
that name (Jude 1:1).
The Bible often uses Greek names in the
Old Testament for reasons of translation style. Examples include Moses,
Solomon, Samuel, Job and Eve. Their Hebrew names are Mosheh, Shlomoh, Shmuel, ‘Eyob and Chawwah respectively.
In reality, there is no problem with
Joseph Smith using Esaias to differentiate this Isaiah from the more well-known
Isaiah of Jerusalem who penned the book of Isaiah.
Further Reading: