5 Yea, and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah, for
I came out from Jerusalem, and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews,
and I know that the Jews do understand the things of the prophets, and there is
none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews
like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things
of the Jews.
6 But behold, I, Nephi, have not taught my children after
the manner of the Jews; but behold, I, of myself, have dwelt at Jerusalem,
wherefore I know concerning the regions round about; and I have made mention
unto my children concerning the judgments of God, which hath come to pass among
the Jews, unto my children, according to all that which Isaiah hath spoken, and
I do not write them.
7 But behold, I proceed with mine own prophecy, according
to my plainness; in the which I know that no man can err; nevertheless, in the
days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled men shall know of a
surety, at the times when they shall come to pass.
8 Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men,
and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly,
and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of
great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand
them; wherefore, for their good have I written them.
Nephi continues discussing how to understand the scriptures. “[M]y soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah” (2 Nephi 25:5). He comes from Jerusalem and he knew the things of the Jews. This is how he understands the writings of Isaiah. “[T]here is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews” (2 Nephi 25:5).
The disciples did not understand why Christ spoke in
parables. They asked Him.
“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest
thou unto them in parables?
“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not
given.
“For whosoever receiveth, to him shall be given, and
he shall have more abundance: but whosoever continueth not to receive,
from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
“Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing
see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which
saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall
see, and shall not perceive:
“For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are
dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
“But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for
they hear.
“For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous
men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and
to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” (JST Matthew
14:10-17).
We have an example of this when we look at Lehi’s dream.
In Lehi's dream, everything is unashamedly symbolic. We
accept his culturally specific symbols because we accept the source of the
dream as divine, and the symbols as corresponding to reality. Far from
discounting cultural influence in the revelations, Nephi insists that Isaiah,
for example, cannot be understood properly without knowledge of Isaiah's Hebrew
culture (2 Nephi 25:5). [1]
We need this background and knowledge to help us understand
what is written in the Book of Mormon as well as understanding Isaiah.
“An essential part of the background for the Book of Mormon
is the Bible. Leo Strauss (1899–1973) argues that when reading a complex text,
one must learn to read it the way the writer reads others (Strauss states the
principle as an aphorism: ‘One writes as one reads’). Nephi notes that his
people find the plates of brass writings difficult to understand; such writings
cannot be understood unless readers ‘are taught after the manner of the things
of the Jews’ (2 Nephi 25:5) … Nephi and the Nephite writers who follow him
repeatedly use Hebraic [interpretive] principles as they compose their record.
They do so because they are writing ‘after the manner of the things of the
Jews.’ We must apply the principles of biblical composition when reading the
Book of Mormon because they are also the principles of the text’s composition.
The rule is to think allusively.”[2]
Nephi would not teach the Nephites about the manner of the
Jews as their works were works of darkness (2 Nephi 25:2). John L. Sorensen clarifies Nephi’s words.
“He is not talking here about the script, which he surely
did teach to his children so they could keep their record. The only thing he
could have meant is the body of literary, historical, and theological
allusions; stylistic forms; vocabulary; and nuanced interpretations the Jews
had elaborately developed surrounding their books. But it was only that part of
this esoteric information which Nephi1considered perverse that he
held back.”[3]
We see an example of chiasmus in Nephi’s writings.
A1 for I came out from
Jerusalem,
B1 and
mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews,
C1 and
I know that the Jews
D1 do understand
the things of the prophets,
E1 and
there is none other people
D1' that understand
the things which were [of the prophets]
C1' spoken
unto the Jews like unto them,
B1' a
save it be that they are taught
b after
the manner of the things of the Jews.
a But
behold, I, Nephi, have not taught my children
b after
the manner of the Jews;
A1' but behold, I, of myself,
have dwelt at Jerusalem. (2 Nephi 25:5–6)[4]
Having shared the prophesies of Isaiah, Nephi turn to his
own prophecy. Nephi delighted in
plainness of words. He would write
towards the end of his record, “And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit
stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and
the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they
will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given
unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be” (2 Nephi 32:7).
Alma2, contending with Zeezrom, reminded him the
words of God are made known to them in plainness.
“And now it came to
pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched forth his hand
unto them and cried with a mighty voice, saying: Now is the time to repent, for
the day of salvation draweth nigh;
“Yea, and the voice
of the Lord, by the mouth of angels, doth declare it unto all nations; yea,
doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy; yea, and he doth
sound these glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to them that are
scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have come unto us.
“And they are made
known unto us in plain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and
this because of our being wanderers in a strange land; therefore, we are thus
highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of
our vineyard” (Alma 13:21-23).
What does Nephi
mean when he says he delights in plainness?
Richard Rust writes:
“Some might think
that since Nephi affirms the plainness of his writing (see for example 2 Nephi
25:7, 33:6), it is unliterary. Quite the contrary. Nephi uses poetic and
rhetorical rhythms and structures with powerful effectiveness. By the word ‘plain’
he means ‘easy to understand’ (1Nephi 14:23, 16:29)—and indeed, impossible to
be misunderstood (2 Nephi 25:7, 28). Perhaps it is Nephi's claim to such a
style, however, that has kept many from thinking about the book in literary
terms. As Nibley has commented, it contains none of the ‘fantastic imagery, the
romantic descriptions, and the unfailing exaggerations that everyone expected
in the literature of [Joseph Smith's] time.’”[5]
Nephi includes his
prophesies because “they are worth unto the children of men” (2 Nephi
25:8). While Nephi wrote for his people,
he also knew the day would come when others would be reading his words. He wrote that he knew his words would “be of
great worth unto them in the last days, for in that day shall they understand
them; wherefore, for their good have I written them” (2 Nephi 25:8).
When Enos wrestled
with the Lord, he asked that the record be preserved and brought forth in the
due time of the Lord (Enos 1:13-16).
Mormon wrote that “these things are written unto the remnant of the
house of Jacob” and that they will “come forth in [the Lord’s] due time” (Mormon
5:12).
[1] "Nigh unto Death": NDE Research and
the Book of Mormon, Kevin Christensen, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute.
[2] How Should We Then Read? Reading Mormon
Scripture After the Fall, Alan Goff, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute.
[4] Nephi's Convincing of Christ through
Chiasmus: Plain and Precious Persuading from a Prophet of God, David E. Sloan,
Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[5] "To Come Forth in Due Time" –
Introduction, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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