2 Nephi 11:2-3

[pam]

Reference Search: 2 Nephi 11:2-3

2 And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.

3 And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words.

Quotes for Discussion

He [isaiah] is quoted more often in the New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and contemporary documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls than any other Old World prophet.

Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 75-76

God has said through his prophets, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” (2 Corinthians 13:1.) Nephi was apparently aware of this system of witnesses when he introduced three great pre-Christian witnesses of the coming of Jesus Christ: Isaiah, Nephi himself, and Nephi’s brother Jacob. Nephi then continues: “Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word.” (2 Nephi 11:3.)

Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 140

ISAIAH

NEPHI

JACOB

Isaiah 6:1: “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up”

1 Nephi 2:16: “I, Nephi…did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me”

2 Nephi 2:1-4: “Jacob…thou art redeemed, because of thy Redeemer…thou has beheld in thy youth his glory”

I am suggesting here that Nephi, Jacob, and Isaiah are three early types and shadows of Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and martin Harris, if you will—witnesses positioned right at the front of the book where Oliver, David, and Martin would be positioned—that Nephi, Jacob, and Isaiah are the three great ancient witnesses of the Book of Mormon—or more particularly, the first three great witnesses in the Book of Mormon testifying to the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, he who will be the central, commanding, presiding figure throughout the Book of Mormon. Nephi stresses this idea himself when he writes in the eleventh chapter of 2 Nephi [verses 2-3].

Jeffrey R. Holland, CES Symposium, BYU, Aug. 9, 1994, pp. 13-14