Verse 25 continues the contrast of social upheaval, symbolized by the lack of agricultural cultivation, with former fields becoming range for livestock (the civilized becoming wild). Gileadi translates this verse: “And on all hillsides cultivated by the hoe you will no longer go for fear of the briars and thorns, but they shall serve as a cattle range, a terrain for sheep to tread down.”
Likening: Nephi read the Immanuel prophecy Messianically. In his case, the linkage was not simply the word “virgin,” but his vision of the tree of life where he has a vision of Mary as the mother of the Messiah (1 Ne. 11:18). Given Nephi’s emphasis on the Atoning Messiah, this is certainly the most important part of this chapter.
Text: The chapter does not end here in the 1830 edition.