Saturday, December 7, 2019

The Addition of "But they do not" to Isaiah 48:2 in 1 Nephi 20:2


In Isa 48:2 (KJV) we read:

For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name.

In 1 Nephi 20:2, a quotation of Isa 48:2, we read the following:

Nevertheless they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, which is the Lord of Hosts; yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name.

The portion in bold is added by Nephi to Isaiah. While there is no manuscript evidence (e.g., Dead Sea Scrolls) supporting this addition, it appears that Nephi may have added it to make more sense of the Isaiah text; indeed, the addition of “but they do not,” changing the verse from something positive to negative towards the House of Israel, makes better sense of the context of Isa 48. As Brant Gardner notes:

Clearly, the addition of “but they do not” changes the meaning from a positive to a negative. However, in the context of the verse, the negative fits better the intent of the text. Verse 1 describes a hypocritical Israel that is not keeping its covenants. They should “stay themselves upon the God of Israel” but do not. It improves the sense of the text for the modern reader to indicate that they are currently not relying upon the Lord, even though they should. (Brant Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Volume 1: First Nephi [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 387)