“And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place” (KJV). I love the KJV, but here in Isaiah 22:23, the translation from the Hebrew can be improved. This is a follow-up article on these verses in Isaiah 22:23, “A nail in a sure place.” (Please refer to the original for additional important information.) I have begun to work on the fourth edition of Isaiah Testifies of Christ and wanted to share an insight from my Biblical Hebrew studies.
So let us examine the Hebrew a bit more closely:
וּתְקַעְתִּ֥יו יָתֵ֖ד בְּמָק֣וֹם נֶאֱמָ֑ן
Literally, here we have: “And-drive-I-him-nail-in-place-sure.”
“And I will drive him as a nail in a sure place.” The word in the KJV for fasten is derived from the Hebrew תָּקַע which has several meanings including “drive” (e.g., EBD, DCH, NIDOTTE, HAL).
תָּקַע, is at times used for the violent and forceful thrusting or driving a nail or some other instrument into a person, as we see in Judges 3:21; 4:21; and in 2 Samuel 18:14.
NIDOTTE, for instance, has, “1. תָּקַע serves to describe a forceful linear movement, e.g., the pounding of an object or the thrusting of an object into something. In Gen 31:25 it describes the pitching of Jacob’s tent (cf. Jer 6:3), whereas the sound of the hammer driving the tent pegs into the ground has motivated the choice of the vb. Cf. also Isa 22:23, 25, where the imagery of the fastening of a peg into a wall is applied figuratively to the king denoting the securing of his position by God. In the context of warfare, תָּקַע is used for the thrusting of an attack weapon into the body of the enemy” [1]
In this verse, the better translation from the Hebrew would be the word drive rather than fasten. NASB has, “I will drive him like a peg in a firm place” (see also AMP, CSB, HCSB, HRB, LEB, LITV, who also use drive).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie[21] explains (and bears repeating from the first article): “Old Testament prophecies about the crucifixion, as that volume of Holy Writ now stands, do not use the word crucify, but notwithstanding this, in some respects they are even more pointed and express than their Book of Mormon counterparts … Ezra even speaks of ‘a nail in his holy place’ (Ezra 9:8), and Isaiah of ‘the nail that is fastened in the sure place,’ having reference to the nails driven in the Crucified One … As to these prophecies, whoso readeth let him understand.” This comment about “whose readeth” calls upon the reader to recall something they already know or suggests that the topic is too sacred to dwell upon.
The Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual [3] has: “Isaiah made a symbol of Shebna’s replacement, Eliakim. His name means ‘God shall cause to arise,’ anticipating the Savior, who holds the ‘key of the house of David’ but was fastened ‘as a nail in a sure place’ until the burden of the Atonement was complete. Upon Him rests ‘all the glory of his father’s house.’ Isaiah recommended depending on Him for everlasting security (Isa. 22:20–25 and fn.)’ (Ellis T. Rasmussen, A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament [1993], 517–18). The ‘nail in a sure place’ (Isaiah 22:23) is messianic and symbolizes the terrible reality of the cross, though only a part of the total suffering of the Lord that caused Him to ‘tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit’ (D&C 19:18). Just as the nail of the cross that was driven in the sure place secured the body of the one being crucified, so the Savior Himself is, to all who will, a nail in a sure place, for He has given them power so that none need be lost (see John 17:12). As Christ brings the redeemed to the Father, the glory becomes His own, and the redeemed and their offspring will become part of the family of heaven under the throne of Christ (see D&C 19:2; Matthew 28:18; 1 Corinthians 15:27–28; Philippians 2:5–11; 3:21)” (Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi, 3rd ed. [Church Educational System manual, 2003], 159).”
[1] (VanGemeren, W. (Ed.). (1997). New international dictionary of Old Testament theology & exegesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
[2] Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah: The First Coming of Christ, p.529
[3] The Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (2015, p. 439)
