EZIAS
| Biblical PN | 1. | Prophet who testified of the coming of CHRIST, apparently during the Classical ISRAELITE period (Helaman 8:20). |
Etymology
The spelling of the PN Ezias is an 1830 edition error made by the printer. The Printer's Manuscript reads EZAIAS. This error continues in all editions, except the 1908 RLDS and the 1999 The Book of Mormon: Restored Covenant Edition.[1]
The correct spelling may reflect KJV NT PN Esaias = Greek hēsaias (Matthew 3:3), which is simply another form of OT ISAIAH = HEBREW yĕšʿayāh(û) “Salvation of God"[2] or "the Lord is salvation" (Isaiah 1:1).[3]
The misspelling as hapax legomenon “Ezias” may follow KJV Apocrypha PN Ezias in 1 Esdras 8:2 (IV Ezra) Oziou, Ozeiou, Eziou, Ezariou variants in the Greek Septuagint (LXX).
As George Reynolds observes: “Orson Pratt suggests. . . that ‘Ezias may have been identical with Esaias’,”[4] which would accord with the LXX and Matthew 3:3 Ēsaias. Since Esaias is listed in Jethro’s line of authority (Doctrine and Covenants 84:11-13), he is therefore a good candidate for the Old World prophet in the Book of Mormon. If this latter is the case, then it is doubtful that Book of Mormon EZAIAS is a variant form for the NT rendering in Greek of ISAIAH, Esaias (contra JAT). Based on this assumption, a Semitic root along the line of ʿz/ṣ(y)s/ś might prove fruitful.
See ISAIAH
See also Ezias/Ezaias Variant
Variants
Deseret Alphabet: 𐐀𐐞𐐌𐐊𐐝 (iːzaɪʌs)
Notes
- ↑ Royal Skousen's 2009 Yale edition also corrects the error.
- ↑ LDS “Bible Dictionary,” 667 (Esaias), 707 (Isaiah). SBL
- ↑ Y. Gitay, “Isaiah, the Book of,” in P. Achtemeier, ed., Harper’s Bible Dictionary (San Francisco: Harper, 1985), 426.
- ↑ Reynolds, Dictionary of the Book of Mormon: Comprising its Biographical, Geographical and Other Proper Names; with Appendices by Janne M. Sjodahl (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882; [reprint 1954]), 89.
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