Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Brant Gardner on 2 Nephi 16:9 (= Isaiah 6:9)

2 Nephi 16:9, which is a quotation of Isa 6:9, reads differently from the KJV:

 

2 Nephi 16:9

Isa 6:9 KJV

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)

 

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