Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
1 Nephi Chapter 7
NEPHI EXPLAINS ISAIAH'S PROPHECIES, VER. 1-42
1 Ne 7:4 For by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets, which shall come upon the
children of men according to the flesh.
7:4 Nephi was asked to explain the meaning of Isaiah's writing when he had finished his reading.
Are they spiritual or temporal in character? He told them they were "pertaining to things both
temporal and spiritual" (5).
In Isaiah's time the ten tribes had been driven out of Palestine into Assyria in 721 B.C. (II Kings
17:6). They were "scattered upon all the face of the earth " (6) and lost their identity and have been
called the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" ever since (7; Matt. 10:5).
1 Ne 7:9 And they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea;
7:9 "Sir Isaac Newton observed that the Hebrews considered the continents of Asia and Africa 'the
earth' because they had access to them ...by land, while the parts of the earth to which access was
gained by water were 'the isles of the sea.' Quite in keeping with this obscure Hebrew idiom, the
Nephites referred to America as 'an isle of the sea.' "1 (See II N. 7:35.)
1 Ne 7:12 Wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations, and shall be hated of all men.
7:12 The adverb "wherefore" refers to the reason indicated in verse 11. That part of the house of
Israel which remained in Palestine, Judah and Benjamin (I Kings 12: 20-24) hardened their hearts
against the Holy One of Israel ( the Christ). Their scattering then was to follow their rejection and
crucifixion of Jesus, John said, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:
11). Judah became the main historical representative of Israel.
The term "Jew" became ,the equivalent of "Israelite." The cursings promised on conditions of
disobedience to God's law (Deut. 28:37-67) have been visited upon the Jew from A.D. 70 to the
present time. While the rest of the tribes lost their identity through intermarriage, Judah has always
carried distinguishing marks. Segregation, persecution, and pogroms have stained the pages of
history because the Jews were "hated of all men," and the end is not yet.
1 Ne 7:13 Nevertheless, after they have been nursed by the Gentiles, and the Lord has lifted up his hand
upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard, and their children have been carried in their arms and
their daughters have been carried upon their shoulders, behold, these things of which are spoken, are
temporal: for thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers;
7:13 Nephi saw a time when the Gentile nations would favor the Jews. Their kings and queens
would become as nursing fathers and mothers (18; Isa. 49:22, 23). Favors are to be shown to the
Jewish children and women in particular. The Jews of America have fared quite well. During the
past century the children have frequently distinguished themselves in our public schools and
colleges. "Temporal" means of this time and place; it is to be understood as literal.