The Sinews

In Isaiah the Israelites were told, “I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass” (Isaiah 48:4).  A sinew is a tendon, tough tissue that connects muscle to bone and transmits force.  There are tendons that support and move the head and neck, allowing it to be flexible.  So tendons that are made of iron in the neck mean that the head would be immovable.  This could represent those who are unwilling to bow their heads in prayer to worship God and show humility before Him.  Or perhaps a neck made of iron sinew could represent simply someone unwilling to change their ways and repent.  Surely this was the case of the Israelites at the time of Isaiah who worshipped other gods and in large measure rejected the true prophets.  This verse is repeated in the Book of Mormon when Nephi quoted it to his brothers in 1 Nephi 20:4, and certainly they were examples of those who would not bow their heads before God or turn to look to Him.  Nephi the son of Helaman taught that the Israelites in Moses’ day needed to “look upon the serpent” to live, and that it was just as easy for us to “look upon the Son of God with faith” to gain life eternal (Helaman 8:15). But someone who has a neck with iron sinew would not even be able to turn their heads and could not look upon the Savior; we have to willing to turn, to look, to repent, to face Him if we want to live spiritually. 

            The word “sinew” also means strength, and it is used in conjunction with images of the resurrection in the scriptures.  In Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones, he recorded these words of the Lord: “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live.”  Ezekiel saw in his vision that bones came together and “the sinews and the flesh came up upon them” (Ezekiel 37:6, 8).  In Joseph F. Smith’s vision he similarly described the resurrection as he saw the spirits of the dead awaiting to be raised up: “Their sleeping dust was to be restored unto its perfect frame, bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:17).  Our literal tendons will come back to our body at the resurrection, but symbolically also we will be given strength and power to rise and never enter the grave again.  Because of the resurrection and atonement of Christ, we will be raised up like the dried bones of Ezekiel’s vision and our sinews will be brought back to allow us to move and bend and bow in worship before the Lord for His great mercy on us.