“Awake, and Arise from the Dust”

Brant Gardner

This language is borrowed from Isaiah 52:1–2, although Moroni’s immediate reference is probably 2 Nephi 8:24–25, which quotes Isaiah.

Variant: The printer’s manuscript reads: “And awake, and arise from the dust, O Daughter of Zion… ” with “Jerusalem” written in above the strikeover. This reading has been preserved in all subsequent editions. This language is obviously based on Isaiah 52:1:2:

Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

“Daughter of Zion” appears in Isaiah but “Jerusalem” needs to come first (as it does in Isaiah and in the corrected printer’s manuscript) to make the meaning of “daughter of Zion” clear. However, either Joseph in dictating the phrase or Oliver Cowdery, in transcribing it, put “daughter of Zion” first and then repeated it in the next line, not noticing that “Jerusalem” was missing altogether. The original manuscript is not extant at this point, but this error is best explained as a copying error where the eye skipped a line.

Another variant also occurs in this verse as well, with its correction appearing on the printer’s manuscript and therefore being typeset correctly. The uncorrected text reads: “… that the covenants of the Eternal God which… ” and “God” has been marked out and replaced by “Father.”

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 6

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