Much of Nephi’s Isaiah-centric
writing can fairly be described as exegetical. This is not to say that he
exceeded his remit as a scribe. Exegetical techniques of the period were
accepted and expected as core scribal activities. These included manipulation,
harmonization, paraphrasing, allusion, and, in some cases, the addition of new
material to expand on existing themes.
To accurately characterize texts
from that era, it is helpful to classify them according to scribal
intervention. Accordingly, textual reproductions may be categorized broadly as
conservative or revisionistic. Such classifications help us more fully appreciate
the process by which text was recorded, and can avoid anachronistic labelling.
Of course, not all texts fall neatly into any given category in their long
histories. Some manuscripts may come down to us as the result of a mixed
treatment.
. . .
[When discussing the differences
between Isa 11:4-6//2 Nephi 21:4-6//2 Nephi 30:9-12]
Nephi values Isaiah’s words, but
his children do not understand Isaiah (2 Nephi 25:1-3). And yet, Nephi seeks to
preserve Isaiah’s words for his people (2 Nephi 11:8). An easy way to resolve
this dilemma would be to modify Isaiah’s words. Nephi has the tools to do this,
but Nephi appears not to do so in 2 Nephi 12-24. The data in Table 2 [RB:
showing the differences between the above-mentioned texts] suggests that Nephi
needed both to comment on this text and change a few words.
Instead, Nephi re-writes these verses in a later section. Such fidelity, we
would expect with a document with a formal extrinsic purpose, such as a
certified copy or a verbatim disposition. Given the textual freedom enjoyed by
scribes in Nephi’s day, it seems clear that they copied text verbatim as a
deliberate choice. (Martin Evans,
“Second Nephi as a Legal Document,” in Defending the Book of Mormon:
Proceedings of the 2023 FAIR Virtual Conference, ed. Scott Gordon, Trevor
Holyoak, and Jared Riddick [Redding, Calif.: FAIR, 2025], 251-52, 253-54,
comment in square brackets added for clarification)
