Nephi explains that Isaiah was speaking both literally (both Israel and Judah were physically scattered in Isaiah’s future) and figuratively (the Lord will not cause cannibalism: “feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh… ” [1 Ne. 21:26]). Since Laman and Lemuel had invested a great deal of emotional energy in denying that any calamities would befall Jerusalem, they have equal difficulty understanding Isaiah’s prophecies on the same theme. Likely, they asked, hoping that Nephi’s answer would be “spiritual,” which would allow them to continue believing that Lehi and Nephi’s predictions about Jerusalem’s destruction were folly.
However, Nephi reiterates that the destruction will be literal. Nevertheless, he does not suggest that Isaiah is only literal, which allows him to broaden the application of these prophecies to include every believer’s spiritual wanderings and reconciliations.