Poetic Prophecies: The Words of Isaiah

         

I wanted to look at the language that the prophet Isaiah uses and how that affects the form of his prophecies. In my assigned section of 2^nd Nephi Ch. 19-27, I will focus on 2^nd Nephi Ch. 21:1-10. The prophet Isaiah uses a variety of literary devices while he is prophesying. He uses metaphors (2^nd Ne 21:1) and similes (2^nd Ne 21:9) in describing Christ and his role, he uses a lot of antitheses in describing the millennium (2^nd Ne 21:6-8), and the imagery he uses creates a vivid impression on the audience’s mind (2^nd Ne 21:4).

        With these literary devices he employs, he supports the eloquent language and message of his prophecies of Christ. This type of language, use of literary devices, and the form these passages are displayed lead it to be a lot more poetic than its scriptural counterpart.  Reading in this form allowed me to better identify the poetic nature of Isaiah’s prophecies and better understand them. 

       In connection with Eliza’s post about the repetition of “wilt thou” by Nephi, Isaiah also uses repetition using the word shall. This connection shows the theme of repetition that prophets use in their prophecies to reinforce key ideas and key themes. How many other prophets in the Book of Mormon have the same poetic nature as the prophecies of Isaiah? Was the language of Isaiah one of the many reasons why almost all prophets quote his prophecies? And because his words are very poetic and rich in literary devices, is this why his prophecies are some of the hardest to understand and interpret?