Isaiah begins a poetic description of the relationship of the Lord to Israel. In addition to poetic form and language, this section deals also in allegory, comparing the Lord to the master of a vineyard and Israel to the vineyard under the master’s are.
Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard is “the most striking example of this literary form in the Old Testament. This form is echoed throughout the scriptures… Its structure resembles that of the joyful oriental songs of the harvest or vintage festivals. It begins as a ”love song" of the master of the vineyard and moves toward a description of a walled garden and fragrant orchard similar to the one described in the Song of Solomon. (Song 4:12-5:5.) (Ludlow, p. 112).
The general imagery is very parallel to Zenos’ allegory of the olive tree in Jacob. The paralleling of themes in Zenos and Isaiah can be explained in a number of ways. One explanation would be that one of the two copied from the other If this were the case, one might expect that it was Isaiah who copied from Zenos because Zenos has the fuller allegory. However, there is little other suggestion of copying in that direction. and the brass plates text appears to relate to Northern Kingdom concerns, as has been previously noted. This northern kingdom orientation show influence from the south but the southern text does not show a similar line of transmission (Isaiah is in the northern kingdom text, but Zenos is not in the southern for instance).
It is not necessary, however, to posit any direct connection. The agricultural patterns used as a theme are sufficiently common information for the people of that time as to easily allow for independent writing of the allegories. In addition to the theme. both the vineyard and the olive tree have symbolic connections to the state of Israel. and thus either is a legitimate choice as a representation for Israel in the analogy. It appear most likely that the two allegories were independently developed, using commonly understood agricultural principles. and a central symbolic figure of known connection/representation of Israel.
Textual analysis: There is a minor change in the Book of Mormon text from that of the KJV Isaiah. In Isaiah the passage begins with “Now” while the text in 2 Nephi begins with “And then.” Both serve as conjunctions, with the Book of Mormon text better relating to a previous passage. The Isaiah beginning. however, is better suited to a separate text, where this would be the initial opening.
The nature of this text of Isaiah is an extended poem While it is thematically related to the previous text it differs both in literary for and imagery. The previous Isaiah text has a logical structural close before the beginning of this poetic passage. It is reasonable, therefore to assume that this text is a separate text that has simply been placed in this position in Isaiah’s writings. It should be see as a different prophetic effort from the previous text.
This separation of text, however is not reflected in that unit structure reflected in the 1830 chapter divisions in the Book of Mormon. The inclusion of this text in the unit, combined with the opening phrase change that is better suited to a linked text suggests that this inclusion of the poetic text with the prophetic pronouncement of the coming destruction had already taken place by the time the brass plates were created.