This verse parallels verse 6: “Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.” Judah has sinned by looking to wealthy and powerful foreigners instead of to Yahweh. Judah’s “envy” takes the dangerous form of imitation. Yahweh contrasts his own permanence with human mortality—man’s “breath is in his nostrils” and he is subject to death.
Likening: Several parts of Isaiah 2 were applicable to the situation of the early Nephites. Verses 2–5 discuss the building of a temple as a gathering place for the people of Yahweh. Nephi’s people had built a temple, and “others” had come to it and joined with Nephi’s people. In particular, verse 5 admonishes the house of Jacob to “walk in the light of the Lord.” That is the model for Nephite society.
The remainder of the chapter warns Judah about the dangers of the seductive cultures around them. The new Nephite city was also surrounded by other peoples and cultures, just like the cities of Judah. They would be just as tempted as Judah to adopt their ways. As we examine the book of Jacob, we will see that these surrounding cultures began to exert a negative influence on the Nephites, probably culminating in the forces that required Mosiah1 to flee from the city. (See commentary on Jacob and Words of Mormon.)
Text: The chapter does not end here in the 1830 edition.