Things you can do to understand Isaiah

     Yes, there are ways you can make it easier.  Here are a bunch of strategies I have learned. 

     First, look for patterns in the phrases Isaiah uses.  Finding a pattern in Isaiah’s writing means you’ve found a rule to use to decode what he means.  One very basic pattern that constantly comes in handy is the way Isaiah repeats what he just said in slightly different words.  Victor Ludlow, who teaches classes at BYU about Isaiah, calls this a “parallelism”.  When I was taking his class, he told us how a parallelism was like the rails of a train track, taking you toward the meaning.  There are different kinds of parallelisms, but the basic kind is when an idea is repeated.  This is useful, because if you understand the gist of one part, then very often the next part (if incomprehensible) means about the same thing.  For example, Isaiah 2:4 contains these phrases: “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks”.  Swords and spears are both weapons of war.  Plowshares and pruninghooks are both farming implements.  It would be boring for Isaiah to say “they shall beat their weapons into farming implements” twice, but he wants to reinforce the idea by repeating it, so he uses slightly different words when he repeats the idea. 

     One way I found helped me recognize repetition was typing out the verses, then breaking them up so that each phrase was on its own line, and then indenting the ones that seemed to express the same idea so that their left margin lined up vertically, like this:

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruninghooks: 

(Isaiah 2:4)

     Sometimes the ideas that are similar don’t come right after each other, so you have to be alert to recognize them.  Here’s an example: “And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him”  (Isaiah 8:17).  I would separate the phrases and indent like this:

And I will wait upon the LORD,

     that hideth his face from the house of Jacob,

and I will look for him.

(Isaiah 8:17)

     Second, notice symbolism.  When scriptures refer to symbolism, they call it a “type” or “shadow”.  Isaiah uses lots of it.  There’s no escaping it.  If you are rolling your eyes right now, I’m totally sympathetic.  Fortunately, gospel symbolism is a little more intuitive that the symbolism you struggle with in English class, because gospel symbols teach spiritual principles about how we should be and how we should not be, which means you can use your knowledge of the gospel to decode the meaning. 

     To notice symbolism, you have to start asking yourself questions all the time when you read phrases like “arm of the flesh” and “fishers of men” and “take up your cross” and “stiffnecked”.  Ask yourself if it could also symbolize something.  What quality or characteristic do you think of when you think of it?  Does substituting that quality make the phrase clearer?  Is it consistent with your knowledge of the gospel? 

     There’s different types of symbolism, a few of which are the following (and this is not an exhaustive list):

1) Body part symbolism – hand, eye, foot, head, mouth, tongue, teeth, etc.

2) Object symbolism – household objects, tools, clothes, etc.

3) Animal symbolism – dogs, horses, birds, dragons, lambs, etc.

4) Food symbolism – wine, milk, honey, water, grain, olives, etc.

5) Natural phenomena symbolism – rain, wind, hail, darkness, light, drought, etc.

6) Color symbolism – red, white, black, green, etc.

7) Place symbolism, mountains, valleys, specific countries (Egypt, Babylon, Moab, Assyria, Israel), etc.

     A quick example:

26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth:

and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations.

27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed,

     and who shall disannul it?

and his hand is stretched out,

     and who shall turn it back? 

(Isaiah 14:26-27)

     What’s the symbol used here?  It’s the “hand”.  It’s body part symbolism.  The hand is used symbolically here to represent the purposes of the Lord, as we can tell because of the repetition Isaiah uses in verse 26.

     Also, when we think of hands, we can associate “work” with them.  This idea of work of the Lord also fits with the idea of the purposes of the Lord.  The Lord’s work and glory (His purpose) is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)  The above scripture from Isaiah tells us that nobody can stop the Lord from getting His work done.  Does this fit with our knowledge of the gospel?  Yes.  Does it make the scripture more clear?  Yes.

     Third, have the spirit of prophecy.  Nephi told his people, “Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy” (2 Nephi 25:4, emphasis added).  How can we have the spirit of prophecy?  Brigham Young taught, “Every man and woman may be a revelator, and have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy…” 1

     Why will having a testimony of Christ make a difference in how well you understand Isaiah?  Because Isaiah prophesied of Christ many times without attaching a name to identify exactly who he was talking about.  Without a testimony of Christ it just sounds like Isaiah is prophesying about someone really cool whom you’ve never heard of yet, but with your testimony of Christ, you will know by the manifestation of the Spirit that Isaiah is referring to Christ.  You will also know how Christ fulfilled those prophecies.  You will have faith that Christ will fulfill Isaiah’s prophecies about the Second Coming. 

     Here’s an example:

And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind,

and a covert from the tempest;

as rivers of water in a dry place,

as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

(Isaiah 32:2). 

     With a testimony of Christ, we can see that this talks about Christ, how he protects.  He’s sheltering like a hiding place or a harbor, he’s refreshing like a river in a desert or a shadow in 120 degree heat.  

     Fourth, liken Isaiah to your life.  (This is the easiest and most effective method of finding meaning in Isaiah’s words.)

     Insert your own name in place of “Israel” or “Jacob” to obtain a sense that Isaiah is speaking directly to you.  This is allowed, because if you have been baptized into the church, you have in effect been adopted into the house of Israel.  So all scriptures talking to Israel also are talking to you. 

     Try to translate what Isaiah says into modern language.  This helped me when I was reading the following scripture:

Hearken to me,

     ye that follow after righteousness,

     ye that seek the LORD:

          look unto the rock whence ye are hewn

          and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

(Isaiah 51: 1)

     The phrase “the rock whence ye are hewn” made me think of the expression “you’re a chip off the ol’ block”. (John Bytheway pointed this out too in his book Isaiah For Airheads)  The next verse confirmed that was exactly the sense I was supposed to read it, because it said, “Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you” (Isaiah 51:2).  Because we’re of the house of Israel, Abraham is one of our fathers way back in our family tree.  You could say we’re a chip off of a chip off of a chip off of a chip….(on and on)… off of his ol’ block

     Try to match behaviors Isaiah describes to experiences you have had in your own life.  Identify things he describes which you have seen or experienced – things you do, things you have seen or heard of others doing, things people do on TV.  Isaiah describes many common experiences and uses them as metaphors to teach spiritual concepts, from which you can infer how to live your life in a way that pleases the Lord.

     Let’s take the example used earlier about swords being beat into plowshares and spears into pruninghooks. 

     If I were a teenager, I would think about what my teenage weapons are.  It could be argumentativeness.  It could be insults.  It could be rebelliousness.  Anything I use to fight someone else physically or verbally or emotionally or spiritually is a weapon.  What would I do with those weapons when the Lord comes?  Well, argumentativeness is really a violent form of persuasiveness, and instead of using arguments to destroy, arguments could be used to persuade people to keep the standards and live the gospel.  How about insults?  Insults could be made into compliments instead, then they would build people up, instead of tearing them down.  Rebellion against the truth could be turned into obedience.

     If I were environmentally sensitive, I would find the scripture about swords into plowshares very reassuring, because it shows that instead of throwing the swords and spears away, people will be reusing them by making them into something peaceful.  Further, I could infer that a throwaway lifestyle is not pleasing to God.  I could also infer that recycling is a good thing to do.  This would cause me to put a lot of thought into figuring out ways of reusing worn-out things.

     If I were an ardent pacifist, the swords-into-plowshares scripture might cause me to look forward to the day when there will be no need for weapons of any kind.

     If I enjoyed tinkering with machines and taking things apart and fixing things and inventing things, the swords-into-plowshares scripture might cause me to decide to pursue a mechanical engineering career and study economical, efficient ways of converting weapons into farming tools, because undoubtedly that would be a major trend at the beginning of the Millennium. 

     If I was the entrepreneurial type, I might decide to start a business turning military surplus into tools and other useful articles.

     If I intended to go into the military, I would make sure that I also learned skills that would allow me to transition easily into a peaceful world.

     Something that it is important to know when we liken Isaiah’s writings to our own lives is that the things he says can be taken multiple ways.  His prophecies come true for us individually, and collectively.  Temporally and spiritually.  Globally and locally.  Past, present, and future.  This book is full of examples of this, so I’m not going to go into examples of this here.  The key to knowing you are correctly using your own experience to understand Isaiah is to make sure that it gives you insight into the gospel.  If it contradicts, first make sure there isn’t some vital bit of doctrine you need to understand first, and if there isn’t, discard it.  Isaiah should always point you toward Christ and doing good. 

     Fifth, ask the Lord about the meaning of phrases that you don’t understand.  This is one of my favorite ways of learning what Isaiah means, because it never fails.  I ask the Lord when I have exhausted all the tricks in my bag.  Then I sit and think about it some more and allow the Spirit to direct my thoughts, and eventually I arrive at an impression of the meaning that seems to fit.  “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).  Ponder it in your heart and study it out in your mind. 

     Sixth, reread multiple times the verses that puzzle you.  Don’t get frustrated, but read them over three or four times and think about the meaning of the phrases individually and collectively as you read each time.  Decide what you think it means.  Think about the individual words and what they imply.  You wouldn’t think that re-re-re-re-reading confusing verses of Isaiah can help you understand, but it does!  Furthermore, I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve thought I knew what a group of verses means, then discovered a realm of deep meaning to them that I never knew existed after reading them over and over maybe seven or eight times and thinking carefully each time.  It’s like a sunrise; things are pretty dark for a while, then you begin to see a little something more, and gradually… slowly… moment by moment… a world of meaning becomes visible!  This happened to me over and over while I was studying the verses I discuss in this book.  For some reason, repetition leads to familiarity, and familiarity leads to insight.  That’s very important, so I think I will repeat it.  Repetition leads to familiarity, and familiarity leads to insight.

     So, read Isaiah.  Come back and read it again after a few months.  Return and read it again after a few more months.  Then read it again a few months later.  Then read it again.  Always review.  Review always.  Always.  Review.  And then go back over that again.

     Seventh, think about the imagery Isaiah uses and visualize it in your mind to see if you can see what he was seeing and hear what he was hearing.  Many times he describes common, everyday experiences in a very poetic way, making them sound very novel. 

     Here’s an example of how this helps.  Consider this scripture:

For ye shall go out with joy,

and be led forth with peace:

     the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,

     and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

(Isaiah 55:12). 

     Singing mountains and clapping trees seems really weird, doesn’t it?  I used to think so too.  One day when I was puzzling over this verse, I had a hunch that Isaiah was describing perfectly ordinary happenings that I might be able to understand if I just tried to envision it.  So I closed my eyes and imagined a group of happy people (pioneers?) traveling through the mountains.  What could cause the mountains and hills to seem like they were singing?  Echoes!  If people are singing happily in the mountains and their song echoes back to them, it would seem like the mountains and hills are singing too!  What about clapping trees?  This one was harder and it took me a few months to get it.  I finally imagined I was walking through a forest and hearing clapping.  Would I think the trees were clapping, just because that was all I could see?  No, I would know that there was a clapping person in there somewhere.  Isaiah was pretending it was the trees clapping, when the trees were simply obscuring the clapping people.  (We could do the exact same thing Isaiah does if we say “the walls were laughing” when we really mean we heard people’s laughter from the other side of the walls.)  Now, before we leave that scripture, I have to point out what it means.  It means that when we live the gospel, we will be happy people and our surroundings will reflect our happiness.  Our houses will be happy, our cars will be happy, our rooms will be happy, and so on.

     Again, the key to understanding imagery is to use our imag-ination.  Pretend you are a little kid again and use your imagination to “see” and “hear” what Isaiah describes. 

     Eighth, search the scriptures.

     Start with the footnotes in the Book of Isaiah.  They help with a preliminary understanding, but they only go so far.  Here’s an example:

Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth:

     thou shalt thresh the mountains,

     and beat them small,

     and shalt make the hills as chaff.

(Isaiah 41: 15)

     There’s a footnote next to “mountains” that says it refers to “Israel’s erstwhile strong enemies”.  That helps, because now we know that mountains were symbolic, but it still leaves us with the question of how we are threshing instruments in the Lord’s hands.  But don’t worry, I will get back to this scripture in the chapter about Responsibility. 

     Isaiah wrote in expectation that his readers were already familiar with the first five books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – so become familiar with them.  He slips in quotations from those books into his writings that his contemporaries were easily able to recognize, and even fill in the parts he may have left unsaid.  If someone said to us something like, “Teach your children righteousness.  No other success can compensate” we could mentally finish with “for failure in the home” because we are fairly familiar with David O. McKay’s quotation. 

     Isaiah really loves to make references to the miracles of Israel’s exodus from Egypt.  You can find ‘em all over if you’re looking.  Here’s an example: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee…” (Isaiah 43:2) uses the image of Israel walking through the Red Sea on dry ground to teach several cool principles: 1) the Lord will open miraculous ways for us and 2) the Lord doesn’t leave us when it is most difficult. 

     Use the topical guide to look for other examples of the use of a word or phrase that puzzles you.  Seeing the phrase used elsewhere may give additional insight on the meaning.  If it isn’t in the Topical Guide, you can check an exhaustive condordance that lists every single word used in the Bible and where it is used.  An easy way to find one is type “exhaustive concordance” into Google’s search engine and you’ll get a whole list of Christian internet sites that have concordances built into them.  Try the word “lees” from Isaiah 25: 6, or “bittern” and “besom” from Isaiah 14:23. 

     Compare Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon with Isaiah in the Old Testament.  There are some major differences that bring fascinating insight when you compare them line by line. 

     Ninth and lastly, acquaint yourself with middle-eastern culture.  This means you have to go beyond just watching CNN Headline News reports about Israeli-Palestinean relations and about the war in Iraq.  (The news isn’t helpful, because middle-eastern behaviors don’t make any sense to westerners or western news anchors.)

     Check out a book from the library about the middle east.  Find out what middle eastern people consider important.  Find out what they consider a fate worse than death.  Find out what they think about God.  Find out what they think about each other and what they think about us.  Find out what events cause them to behave in a seemingly irrational manner.  Things haven’t changed much in 2500 years, so if you can begin to understand what makes them tick, you’ll be that much more ready to understand what things made Isaiah tick. 

     If you have a chance, visit the middle east.  Learn about the geography. 

1 Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1997, p. 253.