“The Sins of Many”

Brant Gardner

Poetic: Isaiah returns to contrasts to finish this section. Where the suffering servant dies among the wicked, he receives the reward with the great. While he was numbered with the transgressors (here referring to his death, not to his personal qualities) he will be the salvation for those transgressors (indicating his great position above them). This is the ultimate resurrected and exalted Savior, who has taken his seat by God's side.

Variant: As in other places there is a number difference between the KJV and the Book of Mormon. In this case the KJV has "the sin of many" and the Book of Mormon has "the sins of many." This is another area where the underlying text is a collective, and either translation is correct (Tvedtnes, 1981, p. 93).

Textual: There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition. While we have seen breaks between cited text and a return to narrative, this occasion does not really match that. While Abinadi changes referents here, Mormon does not. Mormon is still working with copied text. The break will come when Mormon shifts to narrative from copying text (our chapter 16).

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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