Abinadi quotes Isaiah as saying that after the Messiah would be cut off from the land of the living he would make "his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death" (Mosiah 14:9). According to Cleon Skousen, this passage is not entirely coherent in this form. Perhaps a clearer translation is given by Lowth when he says this phrase should be read, "And his grave was appointed with the wicked, but with the rich man was his tomb." . . . Because Jesus was crucified as a malefactor with two thieves, his body undoubtedly would have been disposed of along with theirs in a common grave. It was customary and pre-determined or "appointed" to be this way, but the rich man--Joseph of Arimathea--secured permission from Pilate to place the body of Jesus in his own new tomb. . . . Why would Joseph feel compelled to do this? Isaiah says because he knew the Savior had done no evil, neither was there any deceit in the Savior's mouth. An honest member of the Sanhedrin such as Joseph of Arimathea could not help but feel that a great injustice had been done by his colleagues to this innocent Man. [W. Cleon Skousen, Treasures from the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2, p. 2128]
Mosiah 14:9 He made his grave . . . with the rich in his death ([Illustration]): Garden Tomb, east Jerusalem. In 1883, British General Charles Gordon suggested that the Garden Tomb area in east Jerusalem was a possible site for Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. Since that time numerous members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as many other Christians, have visited and reverenced the area as a sacred site. Photograph by Richard Nowitz. [Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah, p. 94]