Thursday, October 5, 2023

3 Nephi 22:5 reading "Thy maker, thy husband" instead of "Thy Maker is thine husband"

 Isa 54:5 (KJV) reads:

 

For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

 

3 Nephi 22:5, quoting Isa 54:5, reads slightly different:

 

For thy maker, thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel-- the God of the whole earth shall he be called.

 

While the Book of Mormon's version can be explained by Joseph Smith interacting with, and here, deleting, the italicizied words in the KJV (which I do believe explains many of the Isaiah variants we find in the Book of Mormon), I do find it interesting that one 19th century scholarly source rendered the verse as "Thine husband, thy maker," not "thine husband is thy maker,” a similar rendition one finds in the Book of Mormon:

 

 

5. עשַֹׁיִךְ, בּוֹעֲלַיִךְ Thine husband, thy Maker. As to the use of the plural, comp. בְּעשָׁיו “in Him that made him” (Ps. 149:2); אלהים “God;” אדונים “Lord;” I have explained this in my commentary on Genesis (1:1). בועליך “Thine husband” is here used for מלכך “thy King,” and עשיך “thy Maker” for אלהיך “thy God.” The God of the whole earth shall He be called. All nations will accept the divine Law. Comp. “For then will I turn to the people a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord,” etc., (Zeph. 3:9). (M. Friedländer, The Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah, 3 vols. [London: Trübner & Co., 1873], 1:248-49; note that Ibn Ezra's commentary was written in Aramaic)