Friday, May 5, 2023

On the Elijah/Elias and Isaiah/Esaias Issue

  

The appearance of both Elias and Elijah to Smith and Cowdery is problematic since Elias is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Elijah. The same problem exists in Smith’s expansion of his September 1830 revelation, where Elias and Elijah are mentioned as separate individuals. Smith similarly confused Isaiah and Esaias, also Hebrew and Greek forms of the same name, claiming that Esaias was a contemporary of Abraham (D&C 76:100; 84:13). In his study of early Mormon doctrine, LDS author Charles R. Harrell recognized that Smith’s distinction between Elias and Elijah was erroneous and that “in the KJV, no such distinction exists, nor would it make sense because Elias and Elijah are one and the same” and “obscures the simple new Testament idea that Elijah came in the person of John the Baptist who was filled with the spirit of Elijah.” (Dan Vogel, Charisma Under Pressure: Joseph Smith American prophet 1831-1839 [Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2023], 555-56)

 

On the Elijah/Elias issue: For someone who prides himself on the religious debates and concepts contemporary with, and even before, Joseph Smith, Vogel is unaware that “Elias”/”Elijah” were used to denote a forerunner, such as Alexander Campbell, E.W. Hengstenberg, and J.R. Dummelow. Furthermore, related to this issue, the JST project reveals that Joseph knew that OT Isaiah, Noah, Shem, and Hosea were the same individuals as NT Esais, Noe, Sem, and Osee.

 

In reality, Joseph did know that OT Elijah and NT Elias were the same person, and as with his others, including his contemporaries, used “Elias” as a generic term for a “forerunner.” On this, see:

 

“Elias” as a “Forerunner” in LDS Scripture

 

On Esaias in D&C 84: There are actually many people other than the prophet Isaiah who has the name “Isaiah” (Heb: יהושׁוע ). Examples of this include:


Jesiah (1 Chron 12:6; 23:20)

Jesaiah (1 Chron 3:21; Nem 11:7)

These names are rendered Ησαΐας and Ιεσια and other terms in the LXX. These variations of the name in English translations are chosen, in part, to differentiate these Isaiahs from the prophet Isaiah. We see a parallel in this in the variations of Ιούδας in the New Testament, rendering it "Judas" for Judah, the brother of Jacob (Matt 1:2); Judas Iscariot (Matt 10:4); and one of Christ's brothers (Matt 13:55), while also rendering it as "Jude" for the author of the Epistle of that name (Jude 1:1).

The Bible often uses Greek names in the Old Testament for reasons of translation style. Examples include Moses, Solomon, Samuel, Job and Eve. Their Hebrew names are Mosheh, Shlomoh, Shmuel, ‘Eyob and Chawwah respectively.

In reality, there is no problem with Joseph Smith using Esaias to differentiate this Isaiah from the more well-known Isaiah of Jerusalem who penned the book of Isaiah.

 

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