Comments on Isaiah 29

Note: portions of this chapter appear in 2 Nephi 26 & 27.

     This chapter is a difficult chapter to comment on from an
objective viewpoint for those of the LDS persuasion.  For this
reason, I will be commenting strictly on this chapter alone on the
basis of the text itself independent of the comments Nephi puts
forward in the book of 2 Nephi.  Nephi's comments and the issues
surrounding them will be addressed separately in an appendix to
these comments below.

     This chapter continues Isaiah's attack on Israel which started
with the previous chapter.  As such, a number of images from the
previous chapter are employed in this chapter as well so review of
that one is recommended.

v1-8 pick up on the harvesting/threshing theme from 28:23-29 and
spell it out a little more clearly as to what that preceding
parable is talking about, namely applying the appropriate sowing
and harvesting techniques depending on the plant's yield. See
comments on 27:12 for the harvesting of wicked and gleaning of
righteous remnant symbolism.  Thus, these verses for something of
a more literal parenthesis to the parable as well as additional
comments on the subject of 28:21-22.

v1-5d presents a confrontation between the Lord and His city.  The
Lord informs His city that He will besiege them and destroy the
wicked from among them.  For the agent of the Lord's destruction
see 5:25-30 and 10:12-21 and the book of Joel.  The city in
question is Jerusalem.

v1  Herbert says of the term "Ariel":

     Ariel (verses 1, 2, 7) clearly means Jerusalem.  It is
     the same word as is used for "fiery altar", a
     characteristic play on words by the prophet.  The point
     then is that just as Jerusalem with its temple altar is
     the center of the pilgrim-feasts with their great
     national sacrifices, so now the whole city will become
     like a burning altar as the invaders ravage and set it on
     fire.  Suddenly the whole is reversed (v. 5-8).  The fire
     of the altar will break out against the invaders and they
     will flee in turn.

Thus, Isaiah identifies the Lord's altar (i.e. Jerusalem) as the
location of a great and terrible sacrifice of the wicked, cf. 34:6. 
Isaiah's reference to David is pejorative and indicates that during
his reign Israel was united under Jerusalem and widespread idolatry
pretty much eliminated.  But, contemporary or eschatological
Jerusalem is nowhere near the former Jerusalem's glory under David. 
The reference to the repeated festival cycles serves to establish
the context of the festival sacrifices as noted above, but it also
reminds us of the comments in 1:11-17.

v2  The Lord will afflict Ariel/Jerusalem and they will be
miserable as a result.  For line c of this verse most interpreters
render it something like "She shall become a fiery altar (i.e.
Ariel) to me".

v4  Isaiah uses humiliation imagery to depict the results the
Lord's afflictions will have on the wicked at Jerusalem.  Normally
one would expect the image of someone cowering on the ground
begging for mercy at the sword point of their captors.  But, Isaiah
takes it beyond that to say that they will be killed by their
captors, so pleading for mercy at their hands is useless.  That the
only way they can communicate with their ancestors is by speaking
from the dead indicates that all of them will be killed, no
survivors from the wicked will remain to tell their story in
person.  The only way to communicate with these people would be via
necromancy, or if they left some written record behind that "spoke
from the dead" for them in eulogy.  Compare Moroni 10:27.

v5a-d  Note the JPS footnote for this verse for the 1QIsa statement
of "haughty men" rather than the Masoretic "your strangers".  TO be
leveled with the dust or be made into dust is a typical covenant
curse that implies you have been ground into obscurity and
humility, cp. 47:1.

v5e-8 portray a turning of the tables on Jerusalem's oppressors. 
As has been a recurring theme in the preceding chapters, once the
wicked among Israel are disposed of by the invading heathens they
will then in turn be disposed of by the Lord.

v5e-6 presents some powerful language describing how quickly and
powerfully the Lord will dispatch of these heathen oppressors of
His people.  As the Lord frequently uses natural disasters to wipe
out the wicked, these various events are probably referring to
massive earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsunamis and so forth.

v7-8  Those who were attacking Jerusalem were having success and
were enjoying it.  Just as they were dreaming of conquering her
once and for all, instead they will be utterly destroyed.  Their
hopes will be dashed just as a starving and thirsty man dreams of
food and water only to wake up and be confronted with the reality
of their position.  This kind of unreality image also implies that
their success at warfare against Jerusalem was not accomplished by
themselves either but rather was the work of the Lord they were
unwittingly working out.  The military success they attribute to
their skill and prowess are revealed to be incompetence and their
delusions of grandeur are exposed when they are faced with a really
powerful opponent (i.e. the Lord).

v9-23 return to the subject of chapter 28 after the parenthesis of
v. 1-8.  Much of the symbolism employed in these verses is
developed in chapter 28.

v9-12  The characters here being attacked are those from 28:7-8,
namely the "drunken slobs" of prophets that teach false doctrine
and love evil rather than good as v. 9c-d establishes.  Verse 10 is
particularly reminiscent of 6:9-10.  Verse 11-12 then state that
all prophecy/revelation has become like a sealed document to them. 
To the wicked, all of the revelation of the prophets are closed to
their understanding because they cannot understand it by the
Spirit.  They also do not want to understand it as it condemns them
for their elitist intellectualism and the false justification they
employ to excuse their sins.  The result is they mock the Lord's
prophet as in 28:9-10 and cannot/will not discern the meaning of
Lord's/prophet's words.  These verses appear to be presenting the
recipients of the sealed document as making excuses so they can
avoid reading it.  The learned one who can read says "No, I cannot
read it because it is sealed" rather than opening it and reading
it, which it seems is perfectly legal as it has been delivered to
him.  The one who cannot read, says "No, I cannot read" rather than
having the deliverer or someone else read it to him.  That the
educated reader as well as the uneducated reader are portrayed as
rejecting the delivered revelation shows that it isn't just the
intellectual elite who are rejecting the Lord's revelation.

v10  The BofM account appearing in 2 Ne. 27:5 differs.

v13-14  The Lord responds to the men's rejection of His prophet's
revelation by identifying them as hypocrites.  These false prophets
teach their own doctrines rather than His doctrines.  The average
man deliberately chooses to remain in ignorance and follow the
degraded "commandment of men, learned by rote".  The result is that
the Lord will continue to reveal His word to His prophets to their
chagrin and they will be plunged into greater ignorance and
hypocrisy.  The resulting divorce between the Lord's prophet and
the hypocritical prophet reveals that their "wisdom" and "prudence"
is but nonsense.

     Note the definite implication of ongoing revelation at the
Lord's will to His prophet which will be rejected at large by the
hypocritical prophets and average people.

     Jesus also uses a derivative of this verse and v. 10 in Matt.
15:7-14 against the Pharisees.

v14  The JPS translation of this verse is semantically very
different from the KJV.  Using the BofM and D&C as we have today in
conjunction with the JPS or some other modern translation and you
would completely miss the connection between the "marvelous work
and a wonder" references.  Hence the continuing usage of the KJV in
the LDS church in spite of numerous modern translations that are
superior to the KJV, as the syntax is consistent between the Bible
and latter-day scripture.

     The "bafflement upon bafflement/marvelous work and a wonder"
is derivative of Exod. 3:20 and Exod. 15:11 and thus necessarily
implies that the event in question is miraculous and intrinsically
divine in nature.

v15-16  Isaiah in turn derides the "prudence" and "wisdom" of the
hypocritical prophets as referred to in v. 14.  Where these
prophets mocked him in 28:9-10 by making silly repetition noises
that play on the keeping of commandments and precepts, here Isaiah
rips them apart using substantive criticisms.  These prophets
confer in secret foolishly thinking that all they have to do is
dupe their followers so they may exercise power over them.  Their
clandestine operations in combination with their scholarly
appearance causes few to question them.  But, this arm of the flesh
treatment of religion draws scorn from the Lord as He has already
told the false prophets what they are supposed to be doing and
revealed His Law to them.  Instead of heeding His revelations they
confer upon their own doctrines that suit their own purposes and
desires.  Thus, they supplant the Lord as the giver of the Law.

     Many commentators also see these verses as referring to the
alliance with Egypt that is addressed in the next two chapters. 
This may be the case, but I tend to see it as primarily attacking
the false prophets for their rejection of revelation in favor of
their own teachings as this and the previous chapter discusses that
subject at length.

v17-21 form a summary of a number of issues from chapter 28 and 29. 
The lands of Israel will become prosperous after the Day of the
Lord (v.17, note the usage of agricultural symbols per the parable
of ch. 28).  Those that were "deaf" and "blind" will once again see
and hear (v. 18), which probably has reference to those misled by
the false prophets.  The humble and poverty stricken among Israel
will be blessed by the Lord (v. 19) and the wicked will be
destroyed (v. 20-21).

v17  The prosperity of agriculture has considerable application in
Isaiah.  In this case, Isaiah is saying that Lebanon, which is not
very fruitful right now, will become very fruitful after the Day of
the Lord.  So much so that what is now considered to be prime farm
land will be left fallow (cp. Micah 7:14).  For related references
see 4:2, 7:23-25, 27:6, 32:15. For the portrayal of the millennial
earth as an Eden see 51:3, 58:11, 61:11.  Consider the times when
Isaiah has compared people to trees and plants (cf. 2:13, 5:1-2,
5:6) as well as the harvest theme (cf. 27:12).

v18  For other "deaf" and "blind" references in Isaiah see 6:9-10,
29:10, 30:9-10, 42:18-20, 43:8.  Obviously, these references have
physical as well as spiritual applications.

v21  The KJV "make a man an offender for a word" sounds like the
corrupt people are lashing out at those who expose or reprimand 
their corruption.  However, the KJV rendering is not very good.
The NAS renders it "cause a person to be indicted by a word" and
the JPS renders it "cause men to lose their lawsuits".  What is
being referenced here is corruption in the law.  When secret
combinations are being used to manipulate the outcome against
what is just.

     The "arbiter at the gate" is a character who keeps business
people honest.  The village or city gate was the sight of commerce
in Isaiah's historical setting.  The various farmers and herders
would go to the city gate in the morning to sell their goods to the
inhabitants.  The city gates typically had relatively large
courtyards or commons that took on a the appearance of the bazaar
during the day.  When nightfall came the merchants left and the
gates were shut to keep the undesirables out.  That there were
those who deliberately subverted people who kept the merchants
honest belies intricate covert alliances formed to dishonestly get
gain.

v22-24 form the conclusion to chapters 28 and 29.  With the Day of
the Lord (i.e. the harvest and gleaning) the covenant with Abraham
will be fulfilled and the descendants of Jacob will be gathered to
inherit their ancestral lands.  No more will they walk in sin and
be lead astray by false prophets, rather they will be lead by the
Lord and cease to be humiliated as a result (v. 22).  The great and
mighty works as described in these two chapters will all be
accomplished as foretold.  The result is that the remnant of Jacob
will recognize the Providence of the Lord and hallow Him and
worship Him (v. 23).  Those previously confused by false teachings
that resulted in their being grumblers ("confused" and "grumblers"
in synonymous parallel) will now accept instruction at the hand of
the Lord (v.24).  

     Note that this implicates all of the events contained in
chapters 28 and 29 as being directly involved with the
eschatological gathering of Israel, including the "bafflement upon
bafflement/great and marvelous work".


Append to Comments on Chapter 29

     Some LDS commentators have said that the 2 Nephi 27 rendition
of Isaiah 29 is the original and that which appears in the
contemporary Bible is a corruption.  To me this seems impossible. 
Nephi's quotes of and comments upon Isaiah 29 span two chapters and
the subject in general is treated over the course of six chapters. 
Nephi is very careful to establish his context and he even uses a
quote from the Lord to justify it.  Nephi also excludes the first
two verses of Isaiah 29 as they are blatant references to
Jerusalem.  The outline of Nephi's comments is as follows:

     2 Ne. 25:1-4.5 Introduction and address.  Note that Nephi's
                    comments on Isaiah 29 follow immediately
                    after his quoting of Isa. 13 and 14 which are
                    both anti-Babylon.  By doing so Nephi
                    connects the themes by contrasting Zion as
                    the revelation acceptors and Babylon as the
                    revelation rejecters.
     25:4.5-6       Parenthetical Interpretation in the manner of
                    Jews and the historical fulfillment of Isaiah.
     25:7.1         Segue that holds until v. 9, separates the
                    two parenthesis.
     25:7.2-8       Parenthetical delivery of a plain and
                    eschatological interpretation to all men.
     25:9-10        Nephi's children warned of apostasy cycle.
     25:11-20       Nephi foretells the history of the Jews at
                    Jerusalem and their interaction with Jesus to
                    show that he knows who Jesus is and the Jews
                    rejection of him.
     25:21-22       Nephi explains why he is writing this.
     25:23-30       Nephi knows of Christ and the symbolic nature
                    of the Law.  Addresses the criticisms the
                    Jews from v. 11-20 have and shows that he is
                    not like them.
     26:1           When Jesus appears to the Nephites he will
                    deliver a new Law.
     26:2-10        Nephi foretells the destruction of the wicked
                    among his people as a result of their
                    rejection of the teachings of the Lord.
     26:11-14       Segue from the time period of the destruction
                    of Nephi's descendants to the eschatological
                    time frame, but the subject remains that they
                    must know Christ.
     26:15-18       Nephi makes use of parts of Isa. 29:3-5 and
                    interweaves that subject with the history of
                    his people rather than those at Jerusalem. 
                    Note exclusion of Isa 29:1-2 and the use of
                    similar phrases but the absence of direct
                    quotes.  Verse 18 is a segue from Nephi's
                    offspring to the Gentiles.
     26:19-33       Parenthesis on the Gentiles that expounds on
                    the v. 18 quote of Isa. 29:5.  Who these
                    "terrible ones" are and why they are about to
                    be "chaff that passeth away...at an instant
                    suddenly".
     27:1           Picks up theme from 26:18.  On the "days of
                    the Gentiles" cp. D&C 45:24.
     27:2-5         Quotation of Isa. 29:6-10.  Note that Nephi
                    has "Zion" and not "Ariel" in 27:2.
     27:6-18        Massive exposition on Isa. 29:11.  Note
                    successive portions of Isa 29:11 appear
                    through Nephi's comments in v. 7, 15, 18.
     27:19          A paraphrase of Isa. 29:12.
     27:20-24       Lord states "I will do mine own work". 
                    Derivative of theme of Isa. 28.
     27:25-35       Quotation of Isa. 29:13-24.
     28:1-3         Nephi again makes it clear that his comments
                    are aimed at his seed, the gentiles, his own
                    writings and the eschatological setting.
     28:4-17        Parenthesis on the wicked Gentiles again.
     28:18-23       The devil and his church and his followers
                    are doomed, referring to the wicked Gentiles
                    of v. 4-17.  All of the comments made by
                    Nephi are entirely referring to Isa 28 and
                    19's apostate prophets whom Isaiah exposes.
     28:24-29       Woe oracle upon apostate Gentiles.
     28:30-29:14    Quote from the Lord on latter-day revelation
                    that is hostile to the apostate gentiles of
                    28:4-29 and kindly disposed towards Israel
                    with the pivotal point being the
                    acceptance/rejectance of the Lord via His
                    revealed word (which came through His
                    covenant people whom the Gentiles hate also).
                    Note that 28:30 is a quote of Isa. 28:9-10.
     30:1-2         Nephi levels the field after repeated attacks
                    on the Gentiles by stating that obedience is
                    the key and lineage outside of obedience is
                    useless.
     30:3-8         Revelation of the BofM notes the start of the
                    eschatological gathering of Israel.
     30:9           Quotes Isa 11:4 as the Lord God.  Nephi
                    obviously sees the character being referenced
                    in this quote as an incarnation of the Lord,
                    thus Nephi knows that Jesus=Jehovah.
     30:10          Complete destruction of the wicked to save
                    His people is a prelude to the millennium.
     30:11-18       Millennium ushered in and various millennial
                    references.

So, we see that Nephi uses the general Isa. 28-29 context in his
comments and provides a slightly different target from that of
Isaiah.  Nephi's interpretation is obviously not the primary
interpretation of Isa. 28-29 as Isaiah's target is them at
Jerusalem.  But, Nephi's exegesis is valid as he carefully
establishes his context and characters as still being a natural
Israel versus the Gentiles with acceptance/rejectance of revelation
being the main issue.  Nephi remains faithful to Isaiah's theme, he
just substitutes Ephraim in the Americas for Judah in Jerusalem.  
     This raises the issue of the validity of acontextual
interpretations.  The only point of context Nephi changes is that
of Ephraim in Americas rather than Judah in Jerusalem, all other
points remain the same.  As both groups are natural Israel and in
their respective promised lands then the violation of this point of
context is almost insignificant given the overarching themes of
revelation and apostasy, salvation and destruction which are
elsewhere in Isaiah applied to all of Israel and not just Judah. 
Isaiah's use of the poetical "Ariel" makes is even more friendly to
alternative interpretations as that is considerably more ambiguous
than "Jerusalem".  The only truly hostile reference to Nephi's
interpretation is that of "where David camped" (Isa 29:1).  In
favor of Nephi's interpretation is D&C 84:2 which identifies the
New Jerusalem on the Americas as Mount Zion which is friendly to
the 2 Nephi 27:3 substitution of "Zion" for "Ariel".  The term
"Mount Zion" has almost exclusive reference to Jerusalem in the
ancient and latter-day scriptures. This cross reference does much
to establish Nephi's position as well the reader's comprehension.
     Finally note the effort Nephi goes to so as to establish his
context and explain his position.  Nephi understands the context
and import of Isa. 28 and 29 well and makes every effort to remain
faithful to it.  Nephi also includes a quote form the Lord in his
comments that validates his acontextual interpretation (it would be
interesting to know which came first).  Nephi's inclusion of this
divine stamp of approval on his comments shows that he is aware of
the liberties he has taken in interpreting Isa. 29 to his own
people rather than Judah (it also shows that an acontextual
interpretation requires a divine seal of approval in order to be
valid).

     Ignoring the primary contextual reading on Isa. 29 results in
the LDS scholarly community being dismissed as using self-serving
proof texts.  Insisting that Nephi's comments are in fact the
original version of Isaiah 29 does little to further the LDS
position.  The contextual reading of Isa. 29 and 2 Nephi 27 does
more to support the LDS position of latter-day prophets and
revelation than does the assertion that the LDS reading is the
primary one when it is not.

     The JST on Isa. 29:1-8 as included in the LDS Edition KJV has
no significant changes, but the RLDS Inspired Version of Isa. 29
has massive changes to the text that pretty much quote Nephi's
comments from 2 Nephi 27 verbatim.  This is probably what leads LDS
scholars to say that Nephi's comments are the original text even
though Smith never presented the JST as that kind of a work.