When Nephi quotes Isa 49:1, he adds some additional words (highlighted
in bold):
And again, hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that
are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of
my people, yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, which
are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles unto me, and hearken,
ye people, from far. (1 Nephi 21:1)
“And again”
can be simply seen as Nephi’s introduction to this text from Isaiah, but the
portion in bold is not attested in any text of Isaiah, such as the DSS, LXX,
and other ancient texts.
John
Tvedtnes on p. 73 of his The Isaiah
Variants in the Book of Mormon argued this as inserted by Nephi to the
Isaiah text and is an example of chiasmus, presenting this purported chiasmus
thusly:
(A) Hearken, o ye house of Israel
(B) all ye that are broken off
(C) and are driven out
(D) because of the wickedness of
the pastors of my people;
(B') yea, all ye that are broken
off
(C') that are scattered abroad
(A') Who are of my people, O house of Israel
The proposed
chiasmus is not that compelling, as Tvedtnes separated elements (B and B’) and
(C and C’) into different lines. Brant Gardner proposes the following solution:
These sets do not reverse but are rather
directly parallel. It is more probable that these elements (B, C and B’, C’)
are intended to be internal parallels in the same line. If we collapse B/C and
B’/C’ into the same lines, rather than separating them then the general
reversal is restored (B+C reverses B’+C’). The entire preface stresses the
theme of separation that would be so poignant for the Nephites. (Brant A.
Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and
Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon Volume 1: First Nephi [Salt
Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 398)
