A scripture study companion

“What does that mean?”

Some passages of scripture make you stop and read them three times. This site is for those passages. It goes phrase by phrase, the way a patient religion teacher might, with the history, the Hebrew, the imagery, and the witness of Jesus Christ that sits underneath them.

Start with Isaiah How to read Isaiah

Try a phrase

A few notes from Isaiah, chosen at random each time the site is built.

Restoration Insight “are come forth out of the waters of Judah” Isaiah 48:1 The Hebrew reads mimmê yĕhûdâ, “from the waters of Judah,” an unusual expression for descent from an ancestor. It may be a poetic image of a family li… History & Setting “from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name” Isaiah 41:25 This is surprising. The Persian king was not a worshipper of Israel’s God. In the Cyrus Cylinder, the clay proclamation he issued after taking Babylon… Liken It “unto all people” Isaiah 25:6 Notice the guest list: “all people.” Not just Israel, not just the righteous remnant, but all peoples and nations. It matches Isaiah’s vision of every…

The library

66 chapters

Isaiah

The prophet the Savior told us to search diligently, one phrase at a time.

Open

Someday

More of the Old Testament

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Psalms, and the other books that reward careful reading.

Someday

New Testament

Paul’s letters and Revelation, with their Greek and their setting.

Someday

Book of Mormon

Nephi, Jacob, Alma, and the Isaiah chapters of the Book of Mormon.

Someday

Doctrine and Covenants & Pearl of Great Price

Revelations of the Restoration in their setting.

Why study this way?

The Savior said, “Search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Ne. 23:1). The point of the searching is to know Him. Every note here tries to do one of three things: help you understand the words, help you see Jesus Christ in them, or help you liken them to your own life (1 Ne. 19:23).

Commentary is not scripture. Where Latter-day Saint scholars or other students of Isaiah read a passage in different ways, the notes say so. Where prophets and apostles have taught plainly, the notes follow them. The best interpreter of Isaiah is still the Holy Ghost (2 Ne. 25:4).