And The Meek Also Shall Increase: The Verb yasap in Isaiah 29 and Nephis Prophetic Allusions to the Name Joseph in 2

by Matthew L. Bowen

Overview

Abstract: Beyond his autobiographic use of Joseph's name and biography, Nephi also considered the name Joseph to have long-term prophetic value. As a Semitic/Hebrew name, Joseph derives from the verb yasap (to "add," "increase," "proceed to do something" "do something again," and to "do something more"), thus meaning "may he [God] add," "may he increase," or "may he do more/again." Several of the prophecies of Isaiah, in which Nephi's soul delighted and for which he offers extensive interpretation, prominently employ forms of yasap in describing iterative and restorative divine action (e.g., Isaiah 11:11; 26:15; 29:14; cf. 52:1). The prophecy of the coming forth of the sealed book in Isaiah 29 employs the latter verb three times (Isaiah 29:1, 14, and 19). Nephi's extensive midrash of Isaiah 29 in 2 Nephi 25–30 (especially 2 Nephi 27) interpretively expands Isaiah's use of the yasap idiom(s). Time and again, Nephi returns to the language of Isaiah 29:14 ("I will proceed [yôsip] to do a marvelous work"), along with a similar yasap-idiom from Isaiah 11:11 ("the Lord shall set his hand again [yôsîp] ... to recover the remnant of his people") to foretell the Latter-day forthcoming of the sealed book to fulfill the Lord's ancient promises to the patriarch. Given Nephi's earlier preservation of Joseph's prophecies regarding a future seer named "Joseph," we can reasonably see Nephi's emphasis on iterative divine action in his appropriation of the Isaianic use of yasap as a direct and thematic allusion to this latter-day "Joseph" and his role in bringing forth additional scripture. This additional scripture would enable the meek to "increase," just as Isaiah and Nephi had prophesied.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940161650721
Publisher:	Interpreter Foundation
Publication date:	09/06/2018
Series:	Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture , #30
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	362 KB

About the Author

Matthew L. Bowen was raised in Orem, Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young University. He holds a PhD in Biblical Studies from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and is currently an assistant professor in religious education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. He is also the author of Name as Key-Word: Collected Essays on Onomastic Wordplay and the Temple in Mormon Scripture (Salt Lake City: Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books, 2018). He and his wife (the former Suzanne Blattberg) are the parents of three children: Zachariah, Nathan, and Adele.