You are here

There Is No Beauty That We Should Desire Him

TitleThere Is No Beauty That We Should Desire Him
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsSpendlove, Loren Blake
JournalInterpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Volume53
Pagination1–30
KeywordsBeauty; Esther; Isaiah (Book); Jesus Christ; Joseph (of Egypt); Judith; King David; Language - Hebrew; Prophecies of; Prophecy
Abstract

In two separate passages Isaiah appears to describe the mortal Messiah as lacking in physical beauty and perhaps as even having some type of physical disfigurement (see Isaiah 52:14 and 53:2–4). On the contrary, Joseph, David, Esther, and Judith — portrayed in the biblical text as physical saviors or deliverers of Israel — are represented as beautiful in form and appearance. In fact, their beauty seems to be a significant factor in the successful exercise of their power as physical saviors of Israel. Unlike Joseph, David, Esther, and Judith, Christ may have been foreordained to descend to his mortal state with a less than attractive physical appearance and as someone who experienced illness throughout his life so that “he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12).

URLhttps://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/there-is-no-beauty-that-we-should-desire-him/

Scripture Reference

Alma 7:12
Isaiah 52:14
Isaiah 53:2-4