Isaiah is written in beautiful flowing poetry. A Hebrew poetic style commonly employed in the Psalms is enallage. It involves the interchange of person--interweaving second (you, thee, thou) and third person (the Lord, He, she, or it) in the text.
An example of enallage would be Psalm 23:
The Lord (third person) is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He (third person) maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he (third person) leadeth me beside the still waters.
He (third person) restoreth my soul: he (third person) leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his (third person) name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou (second person) art with me; thy (second person) rod and thy (second person) staff they comfort me.
Thou (second person) preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou (second person) anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord (third person) for ever.
Enallage in Isaiah
Isaiah 12 begins:
And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:1-2)
Notice the perspective changes from second person to third person.
Water Libation
Verse 3 has a connect with the granddaddy feast of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, a holiday celebrated by dwelling in booths for seven days (see Leviticus 23:42-43). This festival is also called "Z’man Simchateinu," meaning "season of our rejoicing." It is to celebrate the "ingathering" of the harvest. There were two joyous events--the illumination of the temple courts by candelabra, and the drawing of water from the Pool of Siloam and its libation on the altar, creating a symbolic river of water flowing down the temple steps.
Jesus used both events as a backdrop in the Gospel of John. It records:
"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38).
This becomes more significant since the Greek word for belly is koilia--the same word translated as womb in John 3:4 where Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about spiritual rebirth. Thus, the river of water coming from Christ is symbolic of spiritual rebirth and renewal.
In John, chapter 8 Jesus states,
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (verse 12).
The Isaiah verse reads,
"Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3).
Jesus Christ is the source of "living water" (see John 4:10). The greatest joy we can experience is to come unto Christ.
Enallage in the Book of Mormon
Nephi praises God in a song (or psalm). He exclaims,
My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.
And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them. (2 Nephi 4:20-25)
Thus far, the text is written with the Lord as third person. But later, Nephi changes to second person:
Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.
O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. (2 Nephi 4:30-34)
Nephi chose not to teach his people "the things of the Jews" (2 Nephi 25:5). But when he wants to pour out his soul to God he speaks in the language of the Jews.
And it serves as an added testimony of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The words came off the plates just as Nephi said them.
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