Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Comparison of 2 Nephi 16 and Isaiah 6

This is a side-by-side comparison of 2 Nephi 16 and Isaiah 6.

Differences in the text are marked in RED.
Variations in the text are marked in ROSE.
2 Nephi 16
Differences in the text are marked in BLUE.
Variations in the text are marked in GREEN.
Isaiah 6

1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I: Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar;

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said: Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said: Here am I; send me.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

9 And he said: Go and tell this people—Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not.

9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes—lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

11 Then said I: Lord, how long? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate;

11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

12 And the Lord have removed men far away, for there shall be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

12 And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

13 But yet there shall be a tenth, and they shall return, and shall be eaten, as a teil tree, and as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves; so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

3 comments:

  1. It is interesting to note that in verse 2, the double plural "seraphims" does appear in the 1830 edition of the book of Mormon just like the KJV. In fact, it is in the printer's manuscript as well. The original manuscript is not extant here for this verse. The 1920 edition of the BofM edition makes the correction to the correct Hebrew plural form of "seraphim".

    Some argue that the usage of the double plural is incorrect and shows that Joseph Smith copied the text from the KJV, including this mistake. Personally, I'm not a proponent of the theory that Joseph Smith leveraged the KJV to render certain Isaiah passages in the BofM based on other evidence...

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    1. Part of why I started this project was because of criticisms like that. I kept coming across random commenters on the internet, and one or two people on my mission, saying that Joseph Smith just copied the Bible to make the Book of Mormon. Clearly not true to anyone who has read both. But I always wondered how well the Isaiah chapters lined up with the Bible so just out of curiosity I started this project.

      It's interesting because now that I have been through the Isaiah quotes I can tell that Joseph Smith didn't just copy the Bible. There are too many differences in key places for them to be attributed to transcription errors, personal preference, or a desire to change things to suit their purpose. It comes across as a very similar translation based on an original text which is very, very similar but slightly different.

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    2. This is a beautiful sentiment. Your work feels so much like the Dead Sea Scrolls comparisons which are also clearly just based on very, very similar but slightly different texts. And the brass plates are at least 400 years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls, so it follows that the Dead Sea Scrolls get even closer to the texts used to create the King James version of Bible.

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