1 Nephi 22

1 Nephi 22 (Nephi’s Commentary on Isaiah — 1 Nephi 20-21 / Isaiah 48-49):

According to Robert Parsons, if we examine Nephi’s commentary in 1 Nephi 22, we can see that he drew at least ten of his thirteen points from Isaiah 49 (1 Nephi 21). These thirteen points are listed below, showing Nephi’s source in chapter 21, followed by his comment location in chapter 22.

     1. The scattering of Israel. (1 Nephi 21:1 / 1 Nephi 22:4-5).

     2. The nursing of Israel by the Gentiles. (1 Nephi 21:22-23 / 1 Nephi 22:6).

     3. The raising up of a mighty nation. (1 Nephi 21:22 / 1 Nephi 22:7).

     4. The scattering of the Lamanites. (1 Nephi 21:14,17,19,25 / 1 Nephi 22:7-8).

     5. The restoring of the gospel. (1 Nephi 21:22 / 1 Nephi 22:8).

     6. The fulfilling of the covenants made to the house of Israel. (1 Nephi 21:14-16, 18-21 / 1 Nephi 22:11).

     7. The spiritual and temporal gathering of Israel. (1 Nephi 21:12-13 / 1 Nephi 22:12).

     8. The destruction of the great and abominable church. (No reference in 1 Nephi 21; see 1 Nephi 22:13)

     9. The destruction of all who fight against Zion. (1 Nephi 21:17, 25-26 / 1 Nephi 22:14).

     10. The destruction of the wicked. (1 Nephi 21:26 / 1 Nephi 22:15-16).

     11. The preservation of the righteous. (1 Nephi 21:12-13, 25-26 / 1 Nephi 22:17,19,22).

     12. The destruction of churches which belong to the kingdom of the devil. (No reference in 1 Nephi 21; see 1 Nephi 22:23).

     13. The establishment of the Millennium. (No reference in 1 Nephi 21; see 1 Nephi 22:24-26).¹

1 Nephi 22:1 What Meaneth These Things Which Ye Have Read?:

Robert Parsons notes that while most Book of Mormon readers follow Nephi’s teachings in 1 Nephi 22 and recognize he is interpreting Isaiah, they often cannot determine where he finds his source material for the interpretations in his Isaiah quotations.

If we go back and check 1 Nephi 20-21 (compare Isaiah 48-49) for the basis of Nephi’s teachings in chapter 22, we realize that in addition to what Isaiah says, Nephi has added some of his own understanding to make his commentary as plain as it is. We must remember that Nephi had an extensive knowledge of scripture; not only had he read Isaiah but also Zenos, Zenock, and Neum. He had also had his own visions in which he had seen the time of Christ (1 Nephi 11), his own people in the promised land (1 Nephi 12), the restoration of the gospel (1 Nephi 13), the building of Zion (1 Nephi 13), the destructions preceding the Second Coming (1 Nephi 14), and the establishment of the Millennium (1 Nephi 14). Consequently, Nephi could clearly elaborate on and explain much of what he quoted from Isaiah.²

1 Nephi 22:4 And Behold, There Are Many Who Are Already Lost from the Knowledge of Those Who Are At Jerusalem:

In 1 Nephi 22, Nephi interprets the prophecies of Isaiah (chapters 20-21 [Isaiah 48-49]) concerning the scattering and gathering of Israel which he has just finished quoting to his brothers. He notes that “there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of those who are at Jerusalem. Yea, the more part of all the tribes have been led away; and they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea; and whither they are none of us knoweth, save that we know that they have been led away” (1 Nephi 22:4).

While the words of Isaiah certainly apply to the family of Lehi, Nephi applies them more toward “the lost tribes of Israel.” Concerning these lost tribes, Bruce R. McConkie writes that when Shalmanezer overran the Kingdom of Israel (about 721 B.C.), he carried the Ten Tribes comprising that kingdom captive into Assyria. From thence they were led into the lands of the north and have been called the Lost Tribes because they are lost to the knowledge of other people. (1 Nephi 22:4) Esdras, an apocryphal writer, records this version of their escape from Assyria:

Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanassar the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt, That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passage of the river, For the most High then shewed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half; and the same region is called Arsareth. Then dwelt they there until the latter times; and now when they shall begin to come, The Highest shall stay the stream again, that they may go through.”³

Commenting on this, Elder George Reynolds has written:

They determined to go to a country where never men dwelt, that they might be free from all contaminating influences. That country could only be found in the north. Southern Asia was already the seat of a comparatively ancient civilization. Egypt flourished in northern Africa, and southern Europe was rapidly filling with the future rulers of the world. They had, therefore, no choice but to turn their faces northward. The first portion of their journey was not however north; according to the account of Esdras, they appear to have at first moved in the direction of their old homes, and it is possible that they originally started with the intention of returning thereto, or probably in order to deceive the Assyrians they started as if to return to Canaan, and when they had crossed the Euphrates, and were out of danger from the hosts of the Medes and Persians, then they turned their journeying feet toward the polar star. Esdras states that they entered in at the narrow passages of the River Euphrates, the Lord staying the springs of the flood until they were passed over. The point on the River Euphrates at which they crossed would necessarily be in its upper portion, as lower down would be too far south for their purpose.

The upper course of the Euphrates lies among lofty mountains and near the village of Patash, it plunges through a gorge formed by precipices more than a thousand feet in height and so narrow that it is bridged at the top; it shortly afterward enters the plains of Mesopotamia. How accurately this portion of the river answers the description of Esdras of the narrows, where the Israelites crossed.

From the Euphrates the wandering host could take but one course in their journey northward, and that was along the back or eastern shore of the Black Sea. All other roads were impassable to them, as the Caucasian range of the mountains with only two or three passes throughout its whole extent, ran as a lofty barrier from the Black to the Caspian Sea. To go east would take them back to Media, and a westward journey would carry them through Asia Minor to the coasts of the Mediterranean. Skirting along the Black Sea, they would pass the Caucasian range, cross the Kuban River, be prevented by the Sea of Azof from turning westward and would soon reach the present home of the Don Cossaks.⁴

Commenting on this, Clayton Brough writes:

Whether this “region” of “Arsareth” is or is not identical to, part of, or encompassed in the geographical area referred to by the Prophets Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Joseph Smith, as “the land of the north” and/or “the north country(ies)” (which the scriptures indicate is the location that the Ten Tribes “shall come” from in the Last Days), has not yet been revealed.

The Prophet Jeremiah calls the location “the north country” (Jeremiah 23:7-8; 31:8-9), Zechariah calls it “the land of the north” (Zechariah 2:6), and Joseph Smith calls it both “the land of the north” and/or “the north countries” (D&C 110:11; 133:26). It is interesting to note that Jeremiah uses both the terms: “country” and “countries” in prophesying of the return of the house of Israel in the last days: “But the Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land” (Jeremiah 23:8).⁵

It is significant that in trying to preserve their culture, some of the ten tribes chose to retreat towards “the north countries.” They went into country “where never men dwelt.” And someday they will return to claim their inheritance. Doesn’t this ring of what we find in the Book of Mormon? The Jaredites initially traveled “northward” (Ether 2:1) and also into “that quarter where there never had man been” (Ether 2:5). The Jaredites also lived in the “north country” of the new world. In their final battles, the Nephites retreated “towards the north countries” (Mormon 2:3). Although destroyed as a civilization embracing Christ, the promise was made that one day remnants of Joseph would return to claim their inheritance among the house of Israel and dwell in their own lands. It was from “this north country” (Ether 1;1) that Mormon and Moroni made their record of these people.

Could there have been some deliberate symbolism written into the Book of Mormon to link their story with that of the lost tribes of Israel? And if that is the case, could other parallels be drawn between the return of the house of Joseph and the return of the lost ten tribes?⁶

1 Nephi 22:4 And Behold, There Are Many Who Are Already Lost from the Knowledge of Those Who Are At Jerusalem:

Clayton Brough notes that since the time of the Prophet Joseph Smith up to our own day, a number of General Authorities and members of the Church have often expressed their own beliefs and or opinions as to where the Lost Ten Tribes may be located at the present time. Through much research and a number of recent interviews, these theories have been classified under the following four categories:

(1) The Unknown Planet Theory (sometimes called incorrectly the “North Star Theory”): which proposes that the Lost Ten Tribes were taken away from this earth in a manner similar to that of the City of Enoch, and that they now reside on another planet, orb, sphere, and or near another star somewhere in the universe.

(2) The Hollow Earth (or Concave Theory): which proposes that the Lost Ten Tribes possibly reside in either an unknown concave area like in a volcano, or in a great hollow area, somewhere in the region of the North Pole.

(3) The North Pole Theory: which proposes that the Lost Ten Tribes possibly live in a mysteriously camouflaged area somewhere near or at the North Pole.

(4) The Dispersion Theory: which proposes that the Lost Ten Tribes are today totally scattered among the present nations of the earth, and are only lost as to their identity–not as to their location–and are presently being gathered into the Church through missionary labors.

Concerning these theories, Bruce R. McConkie makes the following comment:

There is something mysterious and fascinating about believing the Ten Tribes are behind an iceberg somewhere in the land of the north, or that they are on some distant planet that will one day join itself with the earth, or that the tribe of Dan is in Denmark, the tribe of Reuben in Russia, and so forth. A common cliche asserts: “If we knew where the Lost Tribes were they would not be lost.” True it is that they are lost from the knowledge of the world; they are not seen and recognized as the kingdom they once were; but in general terms, their whereabouts is known. They are scattered in all nations of the earth, primarily in the nations north of the lands of their first inheritance.⁷

1 Nephi 22:5 [The House of Israel] Shall Hereafter Be Scattered and Be Confounded:

Thomas Valletta notes that the word confounded is usually defined today s “confused” and “bewildered.” In the time that the Book of Mormon was translated into English, however, it also meant “mixed or blended in disorder,” as well as “put to shame”⁸

1 Nephi 22:5 The Holy One of Israel:

The “Holy One of Israel” is Jesus Christ. This phrase is found forty-one times in the Book of Mormon and is used primarily by Nephi and Jacob, both of whom taught the words of Isaiah to their people.⁹

1 Nephi 22:9 In Thy Seed Shall all the Kindreds of the Earth Be Blessed:

In interpreting the words of Isaiah concerning the spiritual and literal scattering and gathering of the house of Israel, especially as concerning the seed of Joseph, Nephi says the following:

And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; . . . And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; . . . unto the making known of the covenant of the Father of Heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. (1 Nephi 22:8-9)

We find the following in a Church Sunday School Manual:

The covenant God made with Abraham pertaining to the house of Israel is both spiritual and temporal (1 Nephi 22). This covenant is the promise of exaltation in the celestial kingdom. The fulfillment of the covenant is realized upon the principle of obedience to the commandments of God. Thus, through Abraham’s seed, the gospel of salvation and exaltation would be taken to all mankind. The Savior would come through Abraham’s seed, and those who will not accept Jesus will be cut off from the covenant people. (3 Nephi 20:33) Included in the covenant are promises of certain land areas called lands of promise. (3 Nephi 20:14, 29).¹⁰

It is interesting to note here that the covenant promises made to Abraham are the main themes of the Book of Mormon only with the focus on Joseph’s (and Lehi’s & Nephi’s) seed.¹¹

1 Nephi 22:9 The Seed of Abraham:

According to Chauncey Riddle, there are special code words or word usages in the Book of Mormon which are not culturally transparent to the user of ordinary English. . . . The four major kinds of hidden meanings involve: (1) obscure usages, (2) technical usages, (3) metaphorical/allegorical usages, and (4) double entendres. . . . The phrase “the seed of Abraham” involves a double entendre. Double entendre is where there is a plain, straight-forward and legitimate ordinary interpretation of a language usage which is underlayed by a second, more significant but abstruse meaning.

In 1 Nephi 22:8-9 we read:

And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles . . . not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

The question arises: What does the text mean in alluding to the seed of Abraham? The plain interpretation of the seed of Abraham is his physical posterity. Through the children of Abraham will all nations eventually be blessed.

The deeper meaning of this usage relates to the fact that “Abraham” is the new name given unto Abram. Abraham had a son named Ishmael when he was as yet Abram. Will all the nations of the earth be blessed through Ishmael? It appears not, though great blessings are given to Ishmael and his seed (see Genesis 17:20). The greater blessing was reserved to Isaac (see Genesis 17:19, who was conceived and born after Abram’s name was changed to Abraham. Now the question is: Are all of the children of Isaac the seed of Abraham through which the nations of the earth will be blessed? Again the answer seems to be “No”. The matter is explained in the Book of Abraham:

My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations; And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father; And I will bless them that bless thee; and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood) for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed , even with the blessing of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal. (Abraham 2:8-11)

Now it is plain from this passage that the blessings which Abraham’s seed give to the nations come through the holy priesthood. . . . If [people] come into the New and Everlasting Covenant and receive the holy priesthood, then indeed they can and will be ministers of the blessings of Jehovah to all nations.

The new name which Abram received, Abraham, literally means “father of many people.” While it is true that Abram/Abraham is the father of many people, the title Abraham is rightfully the name of the great Jehovah, the true father of many people. In putting the name Abraham upon Abram, Jehovah (that is to say, Christ) is putting his own name upon his faithful servant. Thus the seed of Abraham . . . is actually a designation of the children of Christ. The blessing that is given to the nations is that the children of Christ invite all others to become the children of Christ, and administer that opportunity through the holy priesthood which has been put upon them by Christ.¹²

1 Nephi 22:15-17 (An Addition to Isaiah):

According to Monte Nyman, in 1 Nephi 22:15-17 we find evidence of a section of scripture found on the Plates of Brass but not in the King James Version of the Bible. In his work on Isaiah, Nyman noted a significant addition to Isaiah: “As Nephi commented on Isaiah 49 in 1 Nephi 22:15-17, he quoted or paraphrased three verses from ‘the prophet,’ obviously Isaiah. We do not have these verses in the present Bible text, but they fit very well into the context of Isaiah 49 and 50. We can illustrate this by placing (1 Nephi 22:15-17) between the last verse of chapter 49 and the first verse of chapter 50.”¹³

1 Nephi 22:15 The Prophet:

According to McConkie and Millet, apparently Zenos is the prophet that Nephi is quoting. It appears also that Malachi either quoted Zenos or received an independent revelation in the same terms¹⁴

1 Nephi 22:20 A Prophet Shall the Lord Your God Raise Up unto You, Like unto Me:

According to McConkie and Millet, the phrase “a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me” (1 Nephi 22:20) may well be the most often-quoted messianic prophecy in scripture. It was first uttered by Moses to the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Nephi quoted it to his people, Peter quoted it in his great discourse on the grounds of Herod’s temple (Acts 3:22-23), Christ quoted it to the nation of the Nephites (3 Nephi 21:11), Stephen quoted it while transfigured before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:37), Moroni quoted it to Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith–History 1:40), and we find it referred to in the revelation given as a preface to the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 1:14) and in the revelation that was once known as its appendix (D&C 133:63).¹⁵

1 Nephi 22:20 [Moses said] A Prophet Shall the Lord Your God Raise Up unto You, Like unto Me;

According to Almon Fackrell, scattered throughout the Old Testament are prophesies made by the prophets of God, that there would be a Messiah, an Anointed One, a great Prophet who would come to earth someday to redeem man, and to be the Eternal King of Israel. The prophets foretold many of the details of His birth, lineage, power, mission and death; and most of these prophesies are used every week by the Christian clergy to show the divinity of Jesus . . . There is one prophecy, however, which describes the promised Messiah clearer than most any other one . . . This prophecy is found in Deuteronomy 18:15, and is also referred to in 1 Nephi 22:20-21:

And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.

And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness.

Who was the “Prophet like unto Moses”? According to Nephi it was Jesus. (For the testimony of others, see John 1:45; John 6:14; John 7:40; Acts 3:22-24; Acts 7:37. For the testimony of Jesus himself, see John 4:25-26.) How was Jesus like Moses? Almon Fackrell gives 19 parallels between Moses and Jesus:

1. When Moses and Jesus were infants, male children were ordered to be killed by their governments. (See Exodus 1:8-22 and Matthew 2:1-18)

2. Moses and Jesus grew up with a step-parent. (See Exodus 2:9-10 and Matthew 1:18-21)

3. The stepmother of Moses was probably a virgin when he was born. The mother of Jesus was a virgin when he was born. (See Exodus 2:5-10 and Luke 1:26-35)

4. Moses and Jesus received their names from their step-parents. (See Exodus 2:10 and Matthew 1:24-25)

5. Neither Moses nor Jesus were Egyptians, but they both lived among Egyptians when they were infants, and their lives were spared by them. (See Exodus 2:1-10 and Matthew 2:13-15)

6. Both Moses and Jesus were royal princes, being the legal heirs to the thrones of Egypt and Israel. (See Josephus as quoted by Skousen pp. 198-199 and Talmage, James E., Jesus the Christ, pp. 85-87)

7. Moses and Jesus are the only two people recorded in the whole Bible as having come “out of the water” separately. (See Exodus 2:5-10 and Matthew 3:13-16)

8. Moses and Jesus were good shepherds. (See Exodus 3:1 and John 10:11-16)

9. Moses and Jesus were called by God to save their people. (See Exodus 6:2-7 and Matthew 1:21-23)

10. Moses turned water into blood, and Jesus turned water into wine, a symbol of blood. (See Exodus 7:19-21 and John 2:6-10)

11. The wind and the sea obeyed both Moses and Jesus. (See Exodus 14:21-28 and Mark 4:36-41)

12. Both Moses and Jesus came out of Egypt. (See Exodus 13:8-9 and Matthew 2:14-15)

13. Moses and Jesus set some captives free. (See Exodus 3:16-17; 14:30-31 and Luke 4:18-21; 1 Peter 3:18-21; 1 Peter 4:6)

14. Moses and Jesus are the only individuals named in the whole Bible as being “meek.”

15. Moses and Jesus chose the glory of God and rejected the glory of the world. (See Hebrews 11:24-27 and Matthew 4:8-11)

16. Moses and Jesus provided their people with bread from heaven. (Exodus 16:4-15 and John 6:31-56)

17. Both Moses and Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. (See Exodus 24:17-18; Deuteronomy 9:9 and Matthew 4:1-4)

18. While Moses and Jesus were in the wilderness, they were ministered to by angels, and [tempted]. (See Exodus 17:2,7 and Matthew 4:8-11)

19. As witnesses watched, both Moses and Jesus were taken away in a cloud. (See Deuteronomy 34:6 & Skousen, pp. 465-466 and Acts 1:9-11)¹⁶

Did both Moses and Jesus make a visit to the sacred mountain of Horeb or Mt. Sinai? And was the location of Mt. Sinai at or near the present site of Mt. Lawz in that part of Arabia which was part of the ancient land of Midian, the land of Jethro? If so, then this might explain 2 Nephi 19:1 in which the phrase “by way of the Red Sea” replaces “by way of the sea” in Isaiah 9:1. ¹⁷

1 Nephi 22:23 Gain . . . Power . . . Popular[ity] . . . Lusts of the Flesh:

In 1 Nephi 22:23, Nephi declares the following:

For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet.

According to Hugh Nibley, the four things that Nephi talks about; money, power, popularity, and the lusts of the flesh are repeated a number of times in the Book of Mormon.¹⁸

1 Nephi 22:31 And Thus It Is, Amen:

According to Hugh Nibley, Egyptian literary writings regularly close with the formula iw-f-pw, “Thus it is,” ‘And so it is.’ Nephi ends the main sections of his book with the phrase, ‘And thus it is. Amen.’ (1 Nephi 9:6, 14:30; 22:31)¹⁹