Isaiah 49 in the Book of Mormon

The first time Isaiah is really quoted in the Book of Mormon, is in 1 Nephi 20-21. (Sure, there are small references here and there like "how beautiful upon the mountains" in 1 Nephi 13:37). Here Nephi quotes Isaiah 48 and 49. The next time Isaiah is quoted is in 2 Nephi 6-8. Here Jacob quotes what he has been instructed by Nephi to read to the people, which is Isaiah 49:22 - Isaiah 52:2. Consequently, Jacob is instructed to teach the people the words of Isaiah that are a continuation of the words Nephi taught his brothers in 1 Nephi. But there is an overlap because the last 5 verses of Isaiah 49 are repeated.

In 2 Nephi 6, Jacob starts out with the first two verses before launching into a lengthy comment. These two verses from Isaiah 49:22-23 read

22 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

It is interesting to compare Jacob's comments on these two verses in 2 Nephi 6:8-15 with Nephi's comments in 1 Nephi 22 because his comments there are also given after having read Isaiah 49. They are very similar, and I suppose Jacob has learned a great deal from Nephi. Here are some examples.

"And after they have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel..." (2 Nephi 6:10) 

"because of the Holy One of Israel; for against him will they harden their hearts" (1 Nephi 22:5)

"they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated; nevertheless..." (2 Nephi 6:11) 

"wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated of all men. Nevertheless..." (2 Nephi 22:5-6)

"they shall be gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance." (2 Nephi 6:11) 

"they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance" (1 Nephi 22:12)

"if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion, and do not unite themselves to that great and abominable church, they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his covenants which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things. Wherefore, they that fight against Zion and the covenant people of the Lord shall lick up the dust of their feet" (2 Nephi 6:12-13)

"And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it." (1 Nephi 22:14)

"And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel." (2 Nephi 6:15) 

"Behold, my brethren, I say unto you, that these things must shortly come; yea, even blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke must come; and it must needs be upon the face of this earth; and it cometh unto men according to the flesh if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel." (1 Nephi 22:18)

After his commentary, Jacob picks up right where he left off in Isaiah and maintains the natural flow of the text without saying anything like "OK, I'm going back to Isaiah now". We have seen that numerous times in the Book of Mormon. If you are not familiar with Isaiah 49, you cannot even tell where Jacob ends his remarks and goes back into Isaiah.

When Jacob is done reading Isaiah, he comments on what he has read and gives his own remarks with some Isaiah references interspersed, Nephi style, in chapters 9 and 10. For instance, in 2 Nephi 10:9, he refers to Isaiah 49:23 that he had read earlier

Yea, the kings of the Gentiles shall be nursing fathers unto them, and their queens shall become nursing mothers; wherefore, the promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath spoken it, and who can dispute?

Those who think that this text comes from the mind of a poor farmer who just looked into a hat and dictated this without notes and manuscript, need to spend some more time with the Book of Mormon.