Say ye to the righteous, that it
shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. (Isa
3:10)
Say unto the righteous that it is
well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. (2 Nephi 13:10)
Commenting on the difference between KJV and Book of Mormon
Isaiah, John Tvedntes notes that the
KJV
reads "to the righteous", even though the preposition is not found in
MT (ṣdyq). BM emphasizes the existence of the preposition by using the
longer form "unto". Indeed, IQIsa has the preposition in a
superscript (lṣdyq). (John A.
Tvedtnes, The Isaiah Variants in the Book of Mormon [Provo, Utah:
Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1981], 30)
The MT reads:
אִמְר֥וּ צַדִּ֖יק כִּי־ט֑וֹב
כִּֽי־פְרִ֥י מַעַלְלֵיהֶ֖ם יֹאכֵֽלוּ
The Dead Sea Scrolls text reads
(with the preposition l- highlighted):
אמורו לצדיק כיא טוב כיא פרי מעלליהמה יאכלו
Tvedtnes (ibid., 30) also notes
that the preposition is also found in the Peshitta (lṣdyqy') and that
the Peshitta also "has the noun in plural, confirming BM 'them' instead of
'him.'"
Showing that he is unable to give
Joseph Smith (who he presumes to be the author of the Book of Mormon) any
credit, David P. Wright, attempting to downplay this, notes that the
prepositions in the Peshitta
do not mean their underlying Hebrew texts had prepositions; these texts may be construing according to sense. Though the MT does not have a preposition, it must be construed with one. (David P. Wright, "Appendix: Supposed Evidence from Ancient Manuscripts and Hebrew Language and Style," note 139)
