The Great Isaiah Scroll Text of Isaiah 51:19: Potential Light Shed on 2 Nephi 8:19

One textual variation between KJV Isaiah and that in the Book of Mormon I have often wondered about is that of Isa 51:19 (= 2 Nephi 8:19):

 

2 Nephi 8:19	Isa 51:19 KJV
These two sons are come unto thee,  Who shall be sorry for thee,  thy desolation and destruction and the famine and the sword?  And by whom shall I comfort thee?	These two things are come unto thee;  who shall be sorry for thee?  desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword:  by whom shall I comfort thee?

 

To quote David P. Wright:

 

In one case where the BM has another word for an italicized word, the meaning is significantly changed, but not in accordance with the Hebrew original. The phrase "These two _things are come unto thee" becomes "These two sons are come unto thee" (Isa 51:19//2 Ne 8:19). This is an extremely unlikely reading for any ancient text since the phrase in Hebrew is formulated in the feminine ($^etayim hënnâ qör'ötayik) whereas "sons" (bänîm) is masculine. The variant in the BM is oblivious to the requirements of Hebrew, and it is doubtful that the Hebrew developed from a masculine to feminine formulation. Smith apparently replaced the italicized word, picking up "sons" from the context of vv. 18 and 20 which speak of "sons.

 

Interestingly, the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran sheds some possible light on the Book of Mormon reading. As background, the MT reads ‎הֵנָּה ("these" [feminine plural]) while the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa^a) reads המה (third person masculine plural pronoun). To quote Donald W. Parry:

 

הֵנָּה—MT’s independent f. pl. pronoun הֵנָּה refers to שְׁתַּיִם; 1QIsa^a’s המה is in error, or perhaps a copyist thought המה refers back to בנים. (v. 18) (Donald W. Parry, Exploring the Isaiah Scrolls and Their Textual Variants [Supplements to the Textual History of the Bible 3; Leiden: Brill, 2020], 363)

 

In other words, the scribe (who knew Hebrew, and knew the difference between masculine and feminine nouns, unlike Joseph Smith!) believed that המה referred back to the “sons” from v. 18), a grammatical masculine plural (בנים).