Interpreting Interpreter: A Christ-Gathered Remnant of Joseph

This post is a summary of the article ““I Shall Gather In”: The Name Joseph, Iterative Divine Action, and the Latter-day Harvest Ingathering of Israel as Themes in 3 Nephi” by Matthew L. Bowen in Volume 62 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

The Takeaway

Bowen explores potential Joseph-related wordplay in 3 Nephi, focusing on how Mormon and Christ used it to emphasize the iterative, divine gathering of the “remnant of the seed of Joseph,” in reference to and fulfillment of a complex interplay of Old Testament prophecies.

The Summary

In this article, Matthew L. Bowen continues his in-depth explorations of potential references to the name Joseph (yôsîp) in Restoration scripture, focusing in this case on 3 Nephi 20-21. After highlighting the explicit uses of Joseph’s name in the Book of Mormon, Bowen shows how Mormon references Joseph and concepts of gathering (which themselves recall Joseph’s name, via words such as yeʾĕsōp) in his Isaiah-inspired, chiastically-structured prophetic oath, as well as before and after Christ’s two-day sermon. Christ himself mentions Joseph when identifying the remaining Lehites as a “remnant of the house of Joseph”, a people prophesied to receive God’s favor after having been so long separated from the House of Israel. Christ continues to refer to this promised gathering in ways that recall the name Joseph, and Bowen outlines these as follows:

- Repeated references to Isaiah 52 when Christ resumes his sermon after allowing his audience to rest and ponder. This also includes an apparent allusion to Psalm 107 in its reference to gathering from the four corners of the earth, which may rely on the Hebrew word qibbĕṣû (“he gathered them”), as well as a reference to Micah and being gathered to the threshing-floor. (See 3 Nephi 20:13.)

- Discussion of God’s covenant to gather Israel, which seems to allude to promises made to Joseph in the JST version of Genesis. (See 3 Nephi 20:29.)

- Continued references to Isaiah 52 in the context of Isaiah’s prophecies of Judah’s return to Jerusalem. (See 3 Nephi 20:30-33.)

- The fulfillment of the covenant to gather Israel, in which Jesus connects Isaiah 52:10 with 52:1 via the shared language of “awake, awake again” and “there shall no more” (lōʾ yôsîp) (with a similar connection made by Moroni in the closing chapter of the Book of Mormon). (See 3 Nephi 20:36.)

- Christ’s Messianic self-declaration, that leads to an emphasis on the promise that the God of Israel would be their rearward, wherein a stem of the verb ʾāsap (mĕʾassip) can mean “to form a rearguard”. (See 3 Nephi 20:40-42.)

- Quotation of Isaiah’s servant song, where the phrase “sprinkle many nations” has atonement-related implications, which in the JST and 3 Nephi 27 appears connected with the divine act of gathering. Moroni appears to reference these verses in his interpretation of Ether’s prophecy. (See 3 Nephi 20:46.)

- Christ using the initial latter-day gathering as a sign of soon-to-be-fulfilled prophecy, in which he uses phrases (“I shall gather in”, “shall establish again”) that may rely on the Joseph-related words yôsîp and wĕʾāsap. He also appears to blend references to Isaiah and Habakkuk in the phrase “a marvelous work and a wonder”, which Bowen proposes as a polyptoton (a repetition of words with a similar root). (See 3 Nephi 21:1.)

- Christ’s prophecy that “they may be gathered in”, speaking of the gathering of Israel to the New Jerusalem, consistent with Isaiah 49:22-23 and recalling Israel’s autumnal harvest ingathering (which also appears to have been referenced by Ammon and his missionary labors. (See 3 Nephi 21:24-25.)

- A second reference to Isaiah 52 and being Israel’s rearward. Bowen suggests that the phrase “then shall the work of the Father commence” in these verses also alludes to 2 Nephi’s prophecy of Joseph in Egypt. (See 3 Nephi 21:26-29.)

For Bowen, these references help establish a pattern of iterative divine action as Christ works to gather Israel, action that Moroni explicitly connects to the gathering of the seed of Joseph. As he concludes:

‘Mormon used the name Joseph and its associated meanings to remind the latter-day remnant of Joseph, who would read his record, of their history and their special role in the Lord’s “set[ting] his hand again” to “gather” Israel… [and] appears to have understood Jesus’s quotations, adaptations and interpretations of Isaiah 52 [in a similar light]… Mormon was saying in effect, “Remember who you are and what you are supposed to do! Just as Joseph of old ‘gathered’ Israel into Egypt and thus saved the family of Israel from death, you are to gather and save the family of Israel through Christ in the last days.”’

The Reflection

As Bowen continues to document possible Joseph-related references and wordplays, I have to feel for anyone proposing that something like 3 Nephi 20-21 could be sourced from Joseph Smith. I get the sense that the source of those words wasn’t just quoting Isaiah, but that they lived and breathed Isaiah (or, alternatively, inspired Isaiah, but shhhhhh). These allusions are deft and careful, reflecting what seems to be a deep understanding of how Isaiah would have been used and understood anciently. Furthermore, they would likely have been deeply meaningful to a people who saw themselves as a remnant of the seed of Joseph. Perhaps we, whether as part of that remnant ourselves or as heirs to their legacy, can take these words with the same seriousness and care in which they were given, and keep ourselves open to participating in the prophesied gathering presaged in that book.

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