2 Nephi 16:9, which is a quotation of Isa 6:9, reads differently from the KJV:
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2 Nephi 16:9 |
Isa 6:9 KJV |
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And he said: Go and tell this people—Hear ye indeed, but they understood
not; and see ye indeed but they perceived not. |
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand
not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. |
Brant
Gardner offered the following commentary on the differences in tense between
the Book of Mormon and the KJV of Isa 6:9:
Comparison: The King James version translated two
crucial verbs in the present tense, while Nephi’s Isaiah has them in past
tense. The Book of Mormon says that the people “understood not” and “perceived
not” while the KJV says that they “Understand not” and “perceive not.” The Book
of Mormon reading solves the problem in the KJV that has God commanding his
people not to understand his message by creating a command/response structure
rather than seeing both clauses as part of the command.
Other translations solve this
potentially problematic reading without restricting the command into a
command/response. Gileadi translates verse 9 as “And he said, Go, and say to
these people, go on hearing, but not understanding; go on seeing, but not perceiving.”
Thus, Isaiah is describing an ongoing action. Israel has not seen nor heard,
and continues not to see or hear. In ascribing this blindness to the past, the
Book of Mormon agrees with the sense but loses the text’s tone of irony and
scorn for unheeding Israel. Because it is not repented, it will continue doing
what it has done and the consequences will inevitably come.
In verse 10, the “command” is phrased
negatively, rather than positively. It does not make sense for Yahweh to
command Isaiah to “make the heart of the people fat, and make their ears heavy,
and shut their eyes” except as a continuation of the same ironic tone as the
previous verse. Yahweh truly desires that Judah see and hear; thus, the meaning
is the reversal of the words themselves, ironically restating Judah’s woeful condition.
(Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on
the Book of Mormon, 6 vols. [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 2:244)