3 Nephi 23

#3 Nephi Chapter 23

#Scripture Mastery

3 Nephi 23:1-3 (see also Mormon 8:23) Search these things diligently, for great are the words of Isaiah. Surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel.

1 And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.

verse 1 The importance the Savior places upon the writings of Isaiah is obvious. Can you imagine how honored the prophet Isaiah must feel over the Lord’s quoting him and then commanding that the people search his writings? It is probably of little practical use to speculate as to why the Savior feels Isaiah’s writings are so important. The important fact is, that he does, and so should we! Yet, how we struggle to really understand Isaiah’s words and the implications of his poetic forms. Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s writings on this subject do not let us “off the hook”:

If our eternal salvation depends upon our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and truly as Nephi understood them—and who shall say that such is not the case!—how shall we fare in that great day when, with Nephi, we shall stand before the pleasing bar of him who said: “Great are the words of Isaiah”?

It just may be that my salvation (and yours also!) does in fact depend upon our ability to understand the writings of Isaiah as fully and truly as Nephi understood them. For that matter, why should either Nephi or Isaiah know anything that is withheld from us? Does not that God who is no respecter of persons treat all his children alike? Has he not given us his promise and recited to us the terms and conditions of his law pursuant to which he will reveal to us what he has revealed to them? (“The Keys to Understanding Isaiah,” Ensign, October 1973, 78).

From the standpoint of understanding the origin and authorship of the book of Isaiah, this is an important verse. The Savior has just finished quoting Isaiah chapter 54, and he says, “a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. Why is that so important? Most biblical scholars reject the idea that the prophet Isaiah actually wrote chapter 54 of Isaiah. They assign the authorship of chapters 40 to 56 of Isaiah to an unknown author whom they call “deutero-Isaiah.” Here Jesus affirms that Isaiah did write chapter 54.

The tradition of quoting the prophet Isaiah in the Book of Mormon begins with the very first prophet-writer, Nephi, who, of all Book of Mormon prophets, used Isaiah most frequently. As Nephi read the words of Isaiah, he may have developed a personal affinity to Isaiah, who Nephi said “saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him” (2

Nephi 11:2). Nephi saw in Isaiah a congenial prophet who had seen much of what he himself had seen in his own sweeping vision (See John W. Welch, “Getting Through Isaiah with the Help of the Nephite Prophetic View,” in Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch, Provo, UT: FARMS, 1998, 19–45; Nephi also claimed a personal ability to understand the words of Isaiah, in part because he lived in the great city of Jerusalem (2 Nephi 25:5), where Isaiah had worked and died the previous century.).

Abinadi, too, seems to have personally identified with some of Isaiah’s writing, experiencing himself what it is like to be “despised and rejected of men” (Mosiah 14:3; Isaiah 53:3). In addition to those who quoted Isaiah extensively, many other Book of Mormon prophets seem to have subtly quoted, paraphrased, and alluded to Isaiah’s words (For a listing of all the quotations and paraphrases of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, see Victor L. Ludlow, “Isaiah in the Book of Mormon,” in Book of Mormon Reference Companion, 344).

When the resurrected Savior ministered to the Nephites, He also quoted from Isaiah. The risen Lord then made an unprecedented endorsement: “great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi 23:1; cf. 20:11) (Kent P. Jackson, “Teaching From the Words of the Prophets, 3 Nephi 23–26,” in Book of Mormon, Part 2: Alma 30 to Moroni, Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 8, ed. Kent P. Jackson, Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1988, 196, also describes this statement as an “unprecedented endorsement.” Joseph Fielding McConkie, Robert L. Millet, and Brent L. Top, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols., Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1987–1992, 4:157, shared a similar sentiment: “It is one thing for the prophets or the Saints to quote the Lord— such is appropriate and necessary. It is quite another for the Lord to quote someone and then command the Saints to search that prophet’s writings! What greater recommendation could there be for us to begin a life-long search and study of Isaiah?” See also Monte S. Nyman, Book of Mormon Commentary, 6 vols., Orem, UT: Granite, 2003, 5:349: “Isaiah is the only book of the sixty-six books in the Bible that has been singled out with a commandment to search it.”).

Great could mean a variety of things. In Hebrew, gadol (“great”) “refers to things that are large in size, weight, or number . . . to things of great significance or influence; to extraordinary events; and to God” (Dana M. Pike, “‘The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord’: The Anatomy of an Expression,” BYU Studies 41, no. 2, 2002: 150).

Isaiah’s words could thus be called great because his is the largest book in the Old Testament, because his prophecies are the most expansive and far-reaching, or because they are the most profound, sublime, and exalted. In line with this possibility, the Savior explained that Isaiah “spake as touching all things concerning my people” (3 Nephi 23:2, emphasis added).

Like Nephi and Abinadi, the Savior may also have had more personal reasons for calling Isaiah great. Biblical scholars have found that Isaiah “accounts for most of the [Old Testament] quotations and allusions in the [New Testament]” (Margaret Barker, “Isaiah,” in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2003, 490. A single chapter from Isaiah, 53, is referenced 36 different times in 11 different books in the New Testament. See chart in John H. Walton and Craig S. Keener, eds., Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016, 1203. For discussion of Isaiah 53 in the New Testament and early Christianity, see Peter Stuhlmacher, “Isaiah 53 in the Gospels and Acts,” in The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian Sources, ed. Bernd Janowski, and Peter Stuhlmacher, trans. Daniel P. Bailey, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. Eerdmans, 2004, 147–162; Otfried Hofius, “The Fourth Servant Song in the New Testament Letters,” in Suffering Servant, 163–188; Christopher Markschies, “Jesus Christ as a Man before God: Two Interpretive Models for Isaiah 53 in the Patristic Literature and Their Development,” in Suffering Servant, 225–320; Daniel P. Bailey, “Isaiah 53 in the Codex A Text and 1 Clement 16:3–14,” in Suffering Servant, 321–323; Daniel P. Bailey, “‘Our Suffering and Crucified Messiah, Dial. 111.2: Justin Martyr’s Allusions to Isaiah 53 in his Dialogue with Trypho with Special Reference to the New Edition of M. Marcovich,” in Suffering Servant, 324–417; Roy F. Melugin, “On Reading Isaiah 53 as Christian Scripture,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins, ed. William H. Bellinger Jr. and William R. Farmer, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 1998, 55–69; Mikeal C. Parsons, “Isaiah 53 in Acts 8: A Reply to Professor Morna Hooker,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 104–119; Rikki E. Watts, “Jesus’ Death, Isaiah 53, and Mark 10:45: A Crux Revisited,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 125–151; Adrian M. Leske, “Isaiah and Matthew: The Prophetic Influence in the First Gospel,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 152–169; David A. Sapp, “The LXX, 1QIsa, and MT Versions of Isaiah 53 and the Christian Doctrine of the Atonement,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 170–192; J. Ross Wagner, “The Heralds of Isaiah and the Mission of Paul: An Investigation of Paul’s Use of Isaiah 51– 55,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 193–222; William R. Farmer, “Reflections on Isaiah 53 and Christian Origins,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 260–280; Richard E. Averbeck, “Christian Interpretations of Isaiah 53,” in The Gospel According to Isaiah 53: Encountering the Suffering Servant in Jewish and Christian Theology, ed. Darrell L. Bock and Mitch Glaser, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2012, 33–60; Michael J. Wilkins, “Isaiah 53 and the Message of Salvation in the Gospels,” in Gospel According to Isaiah 53, 109–132; Darrell Bock, “Isaiah 53 in Acts 8,” in Gospel According to Isaiah 53, 133–144; Craig A. Evans, “Isaiah 53 in the Letters of Peter, Paul, Hebrews, and John,” in Gospel According to Isaiah 53, 145–170). Additionally, “More than half the [Old Testament] quotations attributed to Jesus himself are from Isaiah, suggesting that he identified closely with the book and possibly also with the prophet himself” (Barker, “Isaiah,” 490).

Though they look very different in English, the very names Isaiah and Jesus “are similar in form and meaning” (Barker, “Isaiah,” 490). The Hebrew names are Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah), meaning “salvation / deliverance of Yahweh [Jehovah],” and Yeshua (Jesus), meaning “the Lord is salvation, deliverance, help” (Yesha‘yahu is composed of yesha, which means “help, deliverance, salvation,” and then the theophoric yahu, meaning Yahweh. Yeshua is another form of the name Yehoshua (Joshua) and likewise derives from yasha. See Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of th Old Testamenet, trans. M.E.J. Richardson, 2 vols., Leiden: Brill, 2001, 1:446, 449. See also “Isaiah,” “Jesus,” and “Joshua,” in Book of Mormon Onomasticon, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson, online at onoma.lib.byu.edu; definitions cited in the text come from this source.). Finally, while the subject continues to be debated in some circles, many scholars would agree that “Isaiah’s Servant was central to Jesus’ self-understanding” (Barker, “Isaiah,” 490. For discussion about Jesus and Isaiah’s Servant, see Stuhlmacher, “Isaiah 53 in the Gospels and Acts,” 147–162; Watts, “Jesus’ Death, Isaiah 53, and Mark 10:45,” 125– 151; Leske, “Isaiah and Matthew,” 152–169; Wilkins, “Isaiah 53 and the Message of Salvation,” 109–132; Otto Betz, “Jesus and Isaiah 53,” in in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 70–87; N. T. Wright, “The Servant and Jesus,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 281–297. As mentioned this subject remains debated by some scholars. For an example of the alternative—that Jesus did not personally identify with the servant, see Morna D. Hooker, “Did the Use of Isaiah 53 to Interpret His Mission Begin with Jesus?” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, 88–103).

This closeness and self-understanding may be evidenced in 3 Nephi, where immediately after commanding the Nephites to “search” the great words of Isaiah, which “have been and shall be” fulfilled, the Savior then commanded: “Therefore give heed to my words” (3 Nephi 23:1–4, emphasis added). As one Latter-day Saint scholar noticed, “Jesus positions his teachings to the Nephites as parallel to Isaiah” (Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6 vols., Salt Lake City, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2007, 5:552).

Isaiah’s writings continue to have a powerful impact on Jews, Christians, and Latter-day Saints throughout the world. Terry B. Ball noted: “With his prophecies preserved not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, Isaiah’s ministry continues to bless and instruct students of the scriptures” (Terry B. Ball, “Isaiah, life and ministry,” in Book of Mormon Reference Companion, 341).

The pervasive presence of his words in all of the Standard Works is a testament of their “everlasting worth to all people” in all ages (McConkie, Millet, and Top, Doctrinal Commentary, 4:158). Indeed, the words of Isaiah are great in terms of impact and influence.

While those of many faith traditions have recognized the great worth of Isaiah’s writings, Book of Mormon readers have not only the Savior’s endorsement of Isaiah but additional quotation and commentary on Isaiah from the Lord Himself in 3 Nephi 20–22. Latter-day Saints also benefit from Nephi’s, Jacob’s, and Abinadi’s quotation, likening, and commentary on Isaiah, along with that of Joseph Smith and other latter day prophets (See Ann Madsen, “Joseph Smith and the Words of Isaiah,” in Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, 353–367; John S. Thompson and Eric Smith, “Isaiah and the Latterday Saints: A Bibliographic Survey,” in Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, 445–509). The Book of Mormon also provides an added witness that the Savior felt a strong personal connection to Isaiah and his writings.

It is important to recognize, however, that after endorsing Isaiah specifically, the Lord expanded the command to all prophets: “Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things” (3 Nephi 23:6). Thus, the great Isaiah may be a categorical representative of the prophets—all of whom are significant and should be searched. In this light, it is interesting that in both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, the next most cited books from the Old Testament after Isaiah are Deuteronomy (from the Law), and the Psalms (from the Writings). Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and the Psalms may thus be thought to represent the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings—the entire corpus of the Old Testament. Thus while the Lord singled out Isaiah as particularly important, all scripture should be searched, pondered, and applied in the lives of disciples of Christ everywhere (see John 5:39; 2 Timothy 3:16).

2 For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.

verse 2 There can be no disputing that the main theme of Isaiah’s writings are the Messiah and the destiny of the house of Israel. He writes of how Israel has forsaken the religion of their fathers and thus has been forsaken by the Master and scattered. He also writes of how in a future day they will be gathered back into the Savior’s fold.

“he must speak also to the Gentiles” The Gentiles are advised also to study his words, as there are important messages in Isaiah’s writings of great worth to the Gentiles. We know that “Gentiles” come in a few varieties (see the commentary for 1 Nephi 10:11). Actually, it doesn’t really matter which category the Gentile falls into. Any individual who accepts Christ and his gospel (regardless of his blood line) becomes a member of the covenant house of Israel, and likewise any person who rejects him (also regardless of his blood line), is not accepted into the house of Israel as one of his covenant people.

3 And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.

verse 3 All of Isaiah’s prophecies have come to pass or will come to pass. “have been and shall be” The Lord also may have wished to convey the idea that Isaiah’s words have dual or multiple fulfillment. They may apply simultaneously to Isaiah’s own time and to our time as well. Robert L. Millet and Joseph Fielding McConkie wrote:

Thus, the past becomes the key that unlocks the future. As history has its cycles, so prophecies have multiple fulfillments and repeated applications. Isaiah’s prophecies of events now past foretell events yet future. The past is the stage upon which the future is portrayed. The scriptures thus have a timeless value and an eternal relevance (Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, volume 1:282).

The past historical events described in scripture are intended by the Lord to be a type and shadow of what is to come. Therein lies their relevance to us.

4 Therefore give heed to my words; write the things which I have told you; and according to the time and the will of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles.

verse 4 The Lord is speaking here, mainly to Nephite prophets. This is another prophecy of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

5 And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things.

verse 5 Jesus’s command was in a way more applicable to the Nephites than it is for us, since they had access to the brass plates of Laban, a less edited and adulterated record than our Old Testament. The simplest points of Christ’s saving doctrines are often obscured in our present-day Hebrew Bible.

6 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he said unto them again, after he had expounded all the scriptures unto them which they had received, he said unto them: Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not.

verse 6 “Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not” The Savior has perceived a deficiency in the Nephite scriptural record.

7 And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept.

verse 7 Exactly what record is the Lord suggesting that Nephi bring to him? Nephi would have brought the entire scriptural record kept by Nephites including the collection of plates called the large plates of Nephi and the single set of plates, the small plates of Nephi.

8 And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:

verses 9-13 An important principle is illustrated in the following five verses. The Savior is careful to make certain we know that every single one of his promises and prophecies to us are fulfilled. In other words, he would have us learn that the words of the Lord do not “fall to the ground” (see 1 Samuel 3:19). In this manner he intends that we will acquire complete trust in him.

9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?

10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.

11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?

12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.

13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

verses 6-13 Some confusion has resulted from these verses. Please read carefully the commentary for Helaman 14:25. I will not repeat the controversy explained in that commentary. Yet another explanation has been suggested to explain the deficit in the Nephite scriptures to which the Savior is referring. Perhaps the Savior is pointing out that the entire account of the preaching and prophesying of the prophet Samuel in 6 BC from the wall around Zarahemla was not, at the time of the Savior’s visit to the Nephites, written into the Nephite record. These same individuals have suggested that it was not included because Samuel was, after all, a Lamanite. They further opine that following the Lord’s command in 3 Nephi 23:13, Nephi did record Samuel’s account onto the large plates of Nephi in its present temporal context (see Helaman 13-16). Mormon then included the account onto the plates of Mormon as he edited the large plates of Nephi. The main objection to this suggestion that the entire account of Samuel’s prophesying was omitted is that here in verses 6-13, Jesus seems to be suggesting that the scriptural deficiency was only a limited part of Samuel’s prophesying—that part having to do with the fact that “many saints” would arise “from the dead, and . . . appear to many.”

14 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them.

verse 14 “Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one” The Savior demonstrated how the scriptures and the prophetic word bear harmonious witness, especially of him. It would have been fascinating to have been in attendance at that discourse.

Three different topics have been suggested by McConkie, Millet, and Top as potential subjects he might have addressed that day:

1. Later on that second day of his Nephite ministry, the Lord “did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away; And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people” (3 Nephi 26: 3-4, 6).

2. He might have taught the entire plan of salvation out of the scriptures, perhaps even opening the heavens and providing the visions necessary to understand what had been, what was, and what was to come. This is the type of panoramic vision experience that was had by Enoch (Moses 6-7), Moses (Moses 1), Nephi (1 Nephi 11- 15), the brother of Jared (Ether 3), and Joseph Smith (D&C 76). On a later occasion, the Prophet Joseph explained, “I could explain a hundred-fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them” (TPJS, 305).

3. He might have demonstrated clearly from the scriptures that all things bear witness of him (Moses 6:63). Such a discourse might have verified the testimony of the prophet that “none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ” (Jacob 7:11; Mosiah 13:33; 3 Nephi 20:24). As the resurrected Lord walked on the road to Emmaus with two disciples, they failed to discern who it was that had joined them. Before their conversation ended, the scripture says that “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27) (Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, volume IV, Third Nephi through Moroni, 159-60).

It would seem most likely that his discourse laid stress on that toward which all scripture points—the mission of Jesus Christ. After doing this, this verse tells us that he commanded his disciples that they teach to others what he had taught them.