2 Nephi 28

2 Nephi 28 (The Use of Isaiah):

According to Robert Cloward, chapter 28 of 2 Nephi weaves together allusions to and phraseology from many chapters in Isaiah.

     1. Some are taken from Isaiah 2-14.

           a. the theme of pride in 2 Nephi 28:9, 12-15 (compare Isaiah

                 2:11-17

           b. the theme of the proud harming the poor in 2 Nephi 28:13

                 (compare Isaiah 3:15)

           c. the theme of the unwillingness to repent in 2 Nephi 28:17

                 (compare Nephi’s version of Isaiah 2:9–1 Nephi 12:9)

           d. the fall of the “abominable” in 2 Nephi 18-23

                 (compare Isaiah 14:19)

           e. being brought “down to hell” in 2 Nephi 28:21

                 (compare Isaiah 14:15)

           f. the eight “wo” statement in 2 Nephi 18:16-32

                 (compare the five woes of Isaiah 5:8-23)

     2. “eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die” in 2 Nephi 28:7-8

           (compare Isaiah 22:13)

     3. “I am the Lord’s in 2 Nephi 28:3

           (compare Isaiah 44:5)

     4. “precept upon precept; line upon line” in 2 Nephi 28:30

           (compare Isaiah 28:10,13)

Thus we can see that Nephi’s “own prophecy” displays his total mastery of Isaiah’s concepts and doctrines. No one with cursory knowledge could have written this. Because he knows them intimately, Nephi can integrate Isaiah’s complex teachings into his likening in such a way that they become “plain.”¹

2 Nephi 28:3 The Churches Which Are Built Up, and Not unto the Lord . . . Shall Say:

According to Miriam Horwinski, embedded in Nephi’s prophecy in 2 Nephi 28 are many phrases that describe the conduct of those who follow the devil. These sins, Nephi states, will pervade much of society in the latter days. Today they can be found well disguised as the philosophies and tendencies listed in the chart below.²

2 Nephi 28:10 And the Blood of the Saints Shall Cry from the Ground:

According to Diane Wirth, one of the most noted workers in the field of American Indian genetics, Dr. G. A. Matson, has studied blood grouping and stated, “The American Indians are not completely Mongoloid.” Professor Earnest Hooten of Harvard not only agreed with Dr. Matson, but thought he saw Near Easterners as a racial component. It is interesting to note that blood types of the American Indian do not correspond to those of east Asian peoples where most scholars theorize the American Indians have their roots. In fact, a more plausible theory is that their ancestors came, by sea, from non-Mongoloid parts of the Old World. Blood types are genetically inherited and passed from father to son, from one generation to the next. Among Asians, blood types A and B are most common; among American Indians, blood type O predominates. Except for the Eskimos, and some Athabascan groups such as the Apache and the Navajo, blood group B is virtually nonexistent among American Indians throughout North, Middle, and South America.

Artifacts found in the area of the Bering Strait suggest the influence of a rather small number of Asians — far below any number that would have been needed to produce the large populace which existed. What explanation do we have for other racial types in the Americas such as the Negro, if we follow current theories and refuse to consider transoceanic voyages? ³