Editing Second Nephi (section)

=== The Isaiah chapters ===

==== Intertextuality ====
Nephi quotes extensively from the [[Book of Isaiah]] throughout 1 and 2 Nephi, with passages largely appearing as they do in the [[Bible]].{{sfn|Givens|2009|p=37}} Elizabeth Fenton describes these passages as "not-quite-exact copying," with differences being minor.<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last=Fenton |first=Elizabeth |date=2016-01-01 |title=Understanding the Book of Mormon |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1589&context=jbms |journal=Journal of Book of Mormon Studies |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=43–45|jstor=10.18809/jbms.2016.0105 }}</ref> J.N. Washburn, an independent scholar, cites that 199 of 433 verses from Isaiah appear with the same wording and proposes that Joseph Smith used the [[King James Bible]] version whenever it was close enough to the original meaning of the plates he was said to be translating and used the new translation when meaning differed.{{sfn|Washburn|1954|p=187}} According to author H. Clay Gorton, 2 Nephi 21 is the only Isaiah-quoted chapter in the Book of Mormon that, when compared to the KJV, sustains no textual differences. In a similar vein, 2 Nephi 22 and Isaiah 12 are different only by one word. Gorton has concluded that, where Isaiah verses differ in the Book of Mormon, approximately 38% of those changes are extensive.{{sfn|Gorton|1994|p=32}}

Philosopher Joseph Spencer calls Isaiah "the honored keynote speaker of the small plates."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spencer |first=Joseph M. |title=The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology |publisher=Greg Kofford Books |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-58958-780-9 |volume=1 |location=Salt Lake City, Utah|page=16}}</ref> Spencer also emphasizes that even beyond quotations, Jacob and Nephi's teachings both seem to be built on further ideas of Isaiah's.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spencer |first=Joseph M. |title=Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah 2 Nephi 26–27 |publisher=Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship |year=2016b |isbn=978-0-8425-2866-5 |editor-last=Spencer |editor-first=Joseph M. |edition=2nd |pages=17–18 |chapter=Nephi, Isaiah, and Europe |editor-last2=Webb |editor-first2=Jenny}}</ref> A scholar involved in early studies of the Book of Mormon, [[Sidney B. Sperry|Sidney Sperry]], suggests that by including Isaiah's writings, Nephi points out the mission of Jesus Christ, the restoration of the house of Israel, and God’s judgments that follow.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sperry |first=Sidney B. |title=The Isaiah Quotation: 2 Nephi 12–24 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=jbms |journal=Journal of Book of Mormon Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=193 |via=BYU ScholarsArchive}}</ref> Additionally, Nephi says he "delights" in Isaiah but explains that a knowledge of Jewish tradition is needed to understand his writings, according to literary critic Michael Austin. Nephi admits he has chosen not to teach his people certain knowledge and traditions with which he is familiar as a former resident of Jerusalem.<ref>{{Harvnb|Austin|2024|p=157}}.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Chapter comparison
!2 Nephi
!Isaiah
|-
|2 Nephi 7
|Isaiah 50
|-
|2 Nephi 8
|Isaiah 51
|-
|2 Nephi 12–24
|Isaiah 2-14
|-
|2 Nephi 27
|Isaiah 29{{sfn|Washburn|1954|p=188}}
|}

==== Deutero-Isaiah ====
In more modern times, scholars have theorized based on variation in style and structure that more than one author wrote the book of Isaiah. These authors are referred to as [[Isaiah]], Deutero-Isaiah, and Trito-Isaiah. Deutero-Isaiah is thought to be born after the time Lehi’s family would have left Jerusalem.{{sfn|Washburn|1954|p=190}} Many of those writings which are considered to be part of Deutero-Isaiah are cited in Second Nephi as quotations from Isaiah. This implies that the Book of Mormon narrative disagrees that this section of Isaiah was written by someone other than its namesake.{{sfn|Gorton|1994|pp=49–51}} An LDS doctrine course teacher's supplement cites the Book of Mormon as evidence that Isaiah wrote the whole book of Isaiah since pieces from throughout the book are said to be from the already compiled brass plates which Lehi's sons took from Jerusalem around 600 BC.{{sfn|Smith|1983|p=49}}

==== Chiasmus ====
Joseph Spencer suggests that Isaiah appears as a sort of [[chiasmus]] in Nephi’s record, sandwiched between Jacob’s and Nephi’s explanations of his writings. In their explanations both men discuss reconciliation with God, contributing to its chiastic appearance. Additionally, Isaiah’s teachings as they appear in Second Nephi form a chiasmus: chapters 12–15 discuss destruction relating to the covenant people; chapter 16 contains a call to repentance, and chapters 17–22 follow themes of God’s covenant people returning to him.{{sfn|Spencer|2016a|pp=53–54}}

==== Typology ====
Biblical [[Typology (theology)|typology]] is a practice of interpretation that suggests Old Testament events are types or representations of future fulfillment of prophecy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Bernard W. |title=Israel's Prophetic Heritage: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1962 |editor-last=Anderson |editor-first=B. |page=177|chapter=Exodus Typology in Second Isaiah |editor-last2=Harrelson |editor-first2=W.}}</ref> Isaiah's writing was described in scripture as things that "have been and will be," which aligns with typology's idea that written prophecies apply both to events in the writer's own day which create a type for the future, and to the [[Christian eschatology|latter days]]. Many of the prophecies quoted from Isaiah in Second Nephi regard [[Babylonian captivity]], which Nephi believes to have already begun. Despite this understanding, Nephi also claims the prophecies will be useful in future times. According to Isaiah analyst and Latter-day Saint [[Avraham Gileadi]], this can be viewed either as a contradiction in the text or with the lens of Nephi viewing Isaiah typologically.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gileadi |first=Avraham |title=Isaiah and the prophets: Inspired Voices from the Old Testament from the Old Testament |publisher=Religious Studies Center Brigham Young University|year=1984 |editor-last=Monte |editor-first=Monte S. |page=134 |chapter=Isaiah: Four Latter-day Keys to an Ancient Book}}</ref>

==== Isaiah and the Charles Anthon visit ====
Second Nephi 27 quotes a prophecy from Isaiah 29 in which the disregarded messages from prophets are compared to a sealed book. The book is delivered to "one who is learned," who says, "I cannot [read it] for it is sealed." In the [[Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)|Pearl of Great Price]], another Latter-day Saint book of scripture, [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]]'s visit to professor [[Charles Anthon]] with copied characters from the Book of Mormon is recorded. While records of the event vary between Anthon and Harris, Anthon's response as reported by Harris was "I cannot read a sealed book." Many Latter-day Saints see this visit as fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1983|pp=45–46|}}; {{harvnb|Smith|Thomasson|Welch|1992|p=73}}</ref>