Comparable to the Bible: Quoting Scripture

It's time for me to finish up my reading of 1 Nephi.  Three chapters remain, chapters 20-22.  Of these, the first two consist Nephi quoting Isaiah chapters 48 and 49 in their entirety.  The last chapter of 1 Nephi consists of him discussing these chapters with his brothers.

One might b tempted to think that quoting an extensive passage of scripture like this would guarantee a favorable comparison, that any source that quotes the Bible must be true, especially if it quotes it so extensively.  But Satan, the Father of Lies, quotes scripture himself, in Matthew 4:6, distorting it with lies in an attempt to convince Christ to throw Himself from the tower.  One of the best ways to hide a lie is in a deluge of other information.  In the world of hardball negotiations, this is known as a snowjob.  The sheer amount of material quoted immediately raises this suspicion in my mind.  In the New Testament we have many different people and authors quoting passages from the Old Testament, but none of the quotes are more than a few verses long.  The quote in 1 Nephi is 2 chapters or 48 verses long, many times the length of the longest quotation in the New Testament (which appears to be Acts 2:17-21, a sermon by Peter which quotes a mere 4 verses from Joel 2:28-32).  Why such a long quotation?  The chapters quoted cover multiple prophesies and topics.  What, out of all of that, is Nephi trying to convey to his readers?  Why reproduce in whole such a vast portion of scripture, when Nephi has already complained multiple times that space is limited in his magical gold book?  Already the genealogies of his family (which were extremely important to Jews, as evidenced by all the genealogies in the Bible) have been left out simply because they're recorded in another set of plates (supposedly).  Supposedly both of these chapters are simply being quoted from the brass plates Nephi murdered Laban for liberated from Laban.  Why quote them at all instead of simply referencing them?

It does not make any sense from a standpoint of Nephi being the Hebrew author of this book, especially given how much he's already compressed and abridged in earlier parts supposedly out of a need to conserve space.  But if we accept Smith as the author, it makes perfect sense.  Smith's foremost aim would be to legitimize his manuscript as scripture, and the surest way to connect his work with the Bible would surely be to quote the latter as extensively as possible.  As we've seen, him trying to make this sort of connection has already driven him to extensively abuse archaic English throughout his manuscript.  After that, a two chapter quote is no big surprise.

However careful reading of these chapters in the Book of Mormon reveals that simply quoting scripture wasn't Smith's sole intent.  He wanted to change and reinterpret it.  We know this because there are a number of substantive changes between Isaiah 48-49 as they appear in 1 Nephi and as they appear in all other Bible translations.  Both additions and subtractions have been made in order to change the meaning or favor a certain interpretation.

One might try to defend these changes.  The first argument might be that it is our Bibles that have been changed and that 1 Nephi 20-21 represents a textually pure reading of Isaiah 48-49.  However, in 1 Nephi 13:25-26, the Book of Mormon claims that the textual purity of the Bible was intact during the time of the twelve Apostles and the genesis of the Gentile church in the late 1st Century AD.  We have copies of the book of Isaiah dating back to 150 BC that agree with ours today.  This means that the book of Isaiah could only have been corrupted some time before that date...and if it was, then the Book of Mormon's statement in 1 Nephi 13 is a lie.  The other argument might be that Nephi rephrased to illuminate some new meaing, but this contradicts the practice of the Bible.  In the Bible many passages are given new meaning, but always by placing them in new context, so as to bring out a double-meaning in the original.  The passage itself is always quoted exactly from either the Hebrew text or the Septuagint.  Since no other translations of the book of Isaiah existed during Nephi's time (in fact, that even one copy of the book should have found its way to Nephi is a strain on credulity), Nephi—if following the Biblical example—should have quoted the words with no additions or modifications at all.  The only explanation that remains is that Nephi, or Smith, altered the meaning deliberately.  There is a precedent for this: in Matthew 4:6 Satan quotes Psalm 91:11-12, but deliberately leaves out a portion, so as to make God's actual promise of angelic protection against everyday accidents a blanket promise of protection that can be applied to suicidal stunts.

Here follows a list of the changes.  Several Bible versions have been listed for comparison, which are the KJV (the most common in Smith's day, as today) and the ESV (a similarly literal translation, but using modern English).  Both translations are used so that readers may rest assured that the differences are not simply alternative translations of the original text.  Additions are in italics.  Subtractions struck through.  At the bottom I'll look at how each change effects the reading of the verse:

• "Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right."—Isaiah 48:1, ESV
• "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness."—Isaiah 48:1, KJV
• "Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness."—1 Nephi 20:1
• The additions here serve two purposes.  The first at the end clarifies the slight ambiguity of the verse's final phrase, but does not appear to alter the overall meaning.  The addition in the middle of the verse, however, forces the meaning of "baptism" onto "the waters of Judah."  There is no reference to baptism in any Old Testament text: it wasn't practiced until the New Testament.  Placing a reference here is a blatant attempt to alter the meaning of the text to address not Jews but people who have been baptized.

• "For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name."—Isaiah 48:2, ESV
• "For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name."—Isaiah 48:2, KJV
• "Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts; yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name."—1 Nephi 20:2
• A meaningless repetition of "the Lord of Hosts" has been added, probably by mistake, like other Book of Mormon repetitions.  The other changes give the verse a more negative slant.  While the original lists only the claims of these individuals, Smith is already busy using the language of the verses to counter these claims.

• "The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass."—Isaiah 48:3, ESV
• "I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass."—Isaiah 48:3, KJV
• "Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them.  I did show them suddenly."—1 Nephi 20:3
• Another meaningless word has been appended to enhance the archaic feel of the language.  The big change comes toward the end.  By inserting the word "show" Smith has implied that God did not bring His prophesies to pass suddenly (as in the originals) but that the making of the prophesies themselves was sudden.  This changes the meanings of the next verses, which reference what God has done to refer to His making rather than fulfilling the prophesies.

• "I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 'My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.'"—Isaiah 48:5, ESV
• "I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them."—Isaiah 48:5 KJV
• "And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hat done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them."—1 Nephi 20:5
• The change in this verse implies that God worked to counteract idolatrous boasting out of fear.  The Bible nowhere says that God, or even Christ, can or ever has been afraid (for "God is love" and "perfect love casts out fear," per 1 John 4:8 and 18).  To say that God not only fears but is motivated by fear is radically contrary to the Bible.

• "They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.'"—Isaiah 48:7, ESV
• "They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them."—Isaiah 48:7, KJV
• "They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto the, lest thou shouldst say—Behold I knew them."—1 Nephi 20:7
• The passage quotes the KJV exactly up to the point of the addition, which at first seems simply to clarify the passage, but when looking at the other two passages its clear that it should have been left ambiguous: the passage is not meant to say that the Isrealites have already been told about these things (as shown by the ESV and NIV).  The addition, therefore changes the meaning to say they have been and didn't listen, so that their ignorance becomes their own fault rather than something planned by God for His glory.

• "For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off."—Isaiah 48:9, ESV
• "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off."—Isaiah 48:9, KJV
• "Nevertheless, for my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off."—1 Nephi 20:9
• Another meaningless "nevertheless."  The big change though is saying that God will refrain Himself from the Israelites, rather than restraining His anger for them.  This depicts a god who cannot allow himself to love them and must cut off all contact.  This is the god of man-made religions, contrasting with the God of the Bible, who died for us while we were sinners, not even abandoning us when we were enemies to Him.

• "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction."—Isaiah 48:10, ESV
• "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."—Isaiah 48:10, KJV
• "For, behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."—1 Nephi 20:10
• A meaningless transitional word is inserted.  All reference to silver is removed, obscuring the metaphor of the verse and making it overall seem more positive than it was in the original text.

• "Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans."—Isaiah 48:14, ESV
• "All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans."—Isaiah 48:14, KJV
• "All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them?  The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil {sic} his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be upon the Chaldeans."—1 Nephi 20:14
• There's nothing in the originals about God fulfilling the word of "them."  Also, fulfilled is spelled incorrectly.

• "I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way."—Isaiah 48:15, ESV
• "I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous."—Isaiah 48:15, KJV
• "Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous."—1 Nephi 20:15
• A repetitive and unnecessary attribution is added.  Then God's calling to His servant is said to be for him "to declare" something, when this meaning is not in the original text.

• "'Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.' And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit."—Isaiah 48:16, ESV
• "Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me."—Isaiah 48:16, KJV
• "Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared I have spoken; and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me."—1 Nephi 20:16
• For a minor change in wording, this changes a lot.  While the original affirms that God has existed and "been there" from the time that "it came to be," the changes remove all references to both God's ongoing existence and instead make the whole verse about God declaring things.

• "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.'"—Isaiah 48:17, ESV
• "Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go."—Isaiah 48:17, KJV
• "And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him, I am the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it."—1 Nephi 20:17
• Another pointless transitional word has been added.  Then the meaning of the second part of the verse has been completely altered.  Rather than being about God's identity, it is now about the servant from the previous verse, saying God sent him and performed "it" (presumably the sending of the servant).

• "'There is no peace,' says the LORD, 'for the wicked.'"—Isaiah 48:22, ESV
• "There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked."—Isaiah 48:22, KJV
• "And notwithstanding he hath done all this, and greater also, there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked."—1 Nephi 20:22
• This large addition to the beginning makes it seem as though the lack of peace for the wicked is despite everything God has done in an effort to give them peace: as though God were trying to give them peace and failing—which seems like a classic thing for the overly-simplified nice-god of some Christians to do.  In the original there remains a very real possibility that the wicked do not have peace because God will not give them any.

• "Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name."—Isaiah 49:1, ESV
• "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name."—Isaiah 49:1, KJV
• "And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel.  Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name."—1 Nephi 21:1
• A very long addition to the beginning of the verse completely alters the verse's intended audience, inserting the idea of Israelites forced into exile by corrupt rulers, an idea foreign to the passage.  It seems to be an attempt to make the passage apply directly to Nephi and his companions.

• "Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: 'Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.'"—Isaiah 49:7, ESV
• "Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee."—Isaiah 49:7, KJV
• "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nations abhorreth, to a servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee."—1 Nephi 21:7
• An article has been left out in the middle of the sentence, probably by accident (and I thought this was supposed to be the "most correct book" in the world!).  At the end of the sentence the second reference to God being the Holy One of Israel and him choosing the "deeply despised one" is removed.  This makes it seem as though the adoration of the rulers is all that is promised and/or that it won't arise as a result of God's choice.

• "Thus says the LORD: 'In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages,'"—Isaiah 49:8, ESV
• "Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;"—Isaiah 49:8, KJV
• "Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard the, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will give thee my servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;"—1 Nephi 21:8
• Two additions are used to change this verse from one addressing God's servant to one addressing the isles of the sea.

• "Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted."—Isaiah 49:13, ESV
• "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."—Isaiah 49:13, KJV
• "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."—1 Nephi 21:13
• Two large additions break the flow of the poetry of the verse and insert a new meaning, referencing the establishment of the people "in the east" and the end of their afflictions.  Who these are is not clear, but it's certainly possible that Smith is trying to reference Nephi and his ilk.

• "But Zion said, 'The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.'"—Isaiah 49:14, ESV
• "But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me."—Isaiah 49:14, KJV
• "But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not."—1 Nephi 21:14
• Again, "behold" is interjected for no reason.  Then an emphatic ending is appended.  While it is positive, the original does not promise that God will do some action to prove Himself, but the altered version implies that He will and must.

• "Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you."—Isaiah 49:17, ESV
• "Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee."—Isaiah 49:17, KJV
• "Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers; and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee."—1 Nephi 21:17
• By the addition of a single word, what was a verse about rebuilding Zion and its destroyers leaving it in a hurry has now become a military action, with the destroyers not being repelled by God but by the force of Israelite arms.

There are many other minor changes, but these are the most substantial, and they give an overall feel for what has been changed and why.  Numerous archaic words were inserted to impede the flow and thus make the KJV sound more like Smith's own laborious prose.  Various other additions and subtractions were made to cause ambiguous verses to come to a chosen meaning (which may not necessarily be correct).  More alarming are the many changes that were made in order to alter the meaning entirely, like the addition of the reference to baptism in 1 Nephi 20:1, when baptism is not even a concept appropriate to this time period.  Again, this is very different from the way the Bible quotes itself, and much more akin to how Satan quoted scripture, changing it in order to alter its meaning.

After this long quotation, the book of 1 Nephi concludes with Nephi giving his brothers his interpretation of the previous chapters, which seems somewhat uncertain and confused.  Nephi says that part of the passage has spiritual and some literal application.  He says it means that the house of Israel will be scattered, but will eventually be nourished and cared for by the Gentiles.  He goes on to say that a great Gentile nation (America) will arise in this land and scatter "our seed" (the Indians, supposedly Nephi and his brothers' descendants) on this continent.  But don't worry, because then God will do some "marvelous work among the Gentiles" (the Book of Mormon) which will also be good for the Indians/Jews (which are, supposedly, the same) and this is "likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders" (1 Nephi 22:8).  It will also evidently reveal God to all the world, causing the evil church mentioned in 1 Nephi 13 to self-destruct "for they shall war among themselves" (1 Nephi 22:13).  Similar fates are predicted for any nation that wars against Israel, which will lead to a time when Satan has "no more power over the hearts of the children of men" (1 Nephi 22:15).  This lack of power will be "because of the righteousness of his [God's] people" (1 Nephi 22:26).  During this time, God will judge the wicked and the righteous will be spared.  After making this interpretative speech, Nephi closes and the book ends.  The sudden end of the book, it should be noted, is because the book is split into two parts...but it should be noted that it's not an entirely artificial end.  Nephi does get to address the reader one last time with a final thought about how both he, his father, and the words on the brass plates (supposedly the Bible) are all addressing the same truth and then end with an "amen."  Contrast books of the Bible which were split later, which have no such natural end points.  1 Nephi was written to end right there.

There are several things to point out in this interpretive chapter.  First of all, out of the 2 chapter quotation Nephi just used the "scarce" space in his book to reproduce, he uses only one verse in his interpretation.  Clearly quoting the entire passage was unnecessary...for him.  This is further evidence that the long quote was engineered by Smith in order to draw parallels to the Bible.

Second, Nephi's interpretation presents prophesies that are false and have not come true.  To start with, Indians and Jews are not related, as genetic testing and cultural heritage have both shown time and time again.  Even if they were, Gentiles getting the Book of Mormon in 1830 is not the same as Jewish children getting nursed and brought back to the Israelite homeland by foreign royalty (as in Isaiah 49:23, the one verse Nephi uses).  This is made brutally evident by the fact that shortly thereafter a series of fronteer wars and massacres would decimate the populations of the remaining American Indians and drive the survivors into reservations, where they remain in scandalously impoverished conditions even today.  Notably the Mormons themselves had a hand in these wars, fighting the Black Hawk Wars against native Ute tribes in Utah, driving them off and, at times, slaughtering men, women, and children of friendly bands indiscriminately.  So much for the great blessings of Mormonism to the Indians!

Third, saying that our own righteousness can prevent Satan from having power of us seems, to me, to be an idea more from man-made religion rather than the Bible.  In the Bible we have power against Satan because "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

Finally, when it comes to God judging the wicked and sparing the righteous, Nephi has this to say, "Wherefore the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire." (1 Nephi 22:17).  Searching for an exact quote along those lines will not turn up any result, so at first you might thing this was another unknown (or made-up) prophet, like Zenos from 1 Nephi 19.  But the phrase "saved...as by fire" is an undeniably familiar one to anyone who has read the King James Version of the Bible extensively...as well it should be.  The phrase actually occurs in the writings of a prominent Bible author: "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."  The problem is that this author is Paul, who is writing these words in the mid to late 1st century AD, over 600 years after Nephi supposedly cross-referenced him.  Once again Smith's eagerness to draw connections with and steal words and imagery from the Bible has led him to make an impossibly anachronistic connection between his writings and Paul's.  This time, though, it is far worse.  The ripoff of the olive tree metaphor could be excused with the improbable idea that two writers inspired by God just happened to use the same detailed metaphor at very different times.  But here, Nephi comes right out and says he's quoting someone, and the only one who's written anything remotely like that is Paul.  Once again the Book of Mormon proves to be an incredibly transparent fake, a consistent disappointment when compared to the Bible.