Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Difference in Verb Tense in Isaiah 14:16 and 2 Nephi 24:16


When one examines Isa 14:16 (KJV) and the 2 Nephi 24:16, one will notice that there is a subtle change in verb tense:

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms. (Isa 14:16)

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and shall consider thee, and shall say, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and did shake kingdoms. (2 Nephi 24:16)

As John Tvedtnes noted:

BM properly rendered "shall consider thee" [Heb: יִתְבּוֹנָנוּ] as future, as in the Hebrew M[asoretic]T[ext] . . . But the verb "to say" is missing from MT and must be understood, though there is a possibility that it became lost  from the original. (John A. Tvedtnes, The Isaiah Variants in the Book of Mormon [Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1981], 58; comments in square brackets added for clarification)