1 Nephi 5:8 Textual Variants

Apparently scribe 3 of 𝓞 dropped the subject pronoun I from this clause beginning with “yea and”. Oliver Cowdery added it when he copied the text into 𝓟. There is evidence that scribe 3 of 𝓞 tended to omit the subject pronoun I, as in the following two examples:

• 1 Nephi 8:4
  • for behold methought [NULL > i 0|I 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] saw a dark and dreary wilderness
• 1 Nephi 8:9
  • after I had prayed unto the Lord [NULL >– i 0|NULL >+ I 1|I ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] beheld a large and spacious field

In the first example, scribe 3 of 𝓞 caught his error and supralinearly inserted the I (characteristically spelled by scribe 3 as a lowercase i ). In the second example, his supralinearly inserted i was so weak that Oliver Cowdery apparently missed it when he initially copied the passage from 𝓞 into 𝓟. Later, with heavier ink flow, Oliver supralinearly inserted the I in 𝓟.

In similar clauses beginning with “yea and”, the subject pronoun I is never missing:

• 1 Nephi 4:11
  • yea and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life
• 1 Nephi 4:15
  • yea and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses save they should have the law
• The Words of Mormon 1:4
  • yea and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us down to this day has been fulfilled
• Alma 29:11
  • yea and I also remember the captivity of my fathers
• Alma 34:39
  • yea and I also exhort you my brethren that ye be watchful unto prayer continually
• Alma 38:4
  • yea and I also knew that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake

Thus both scribal and textual evidence support Oliver Cowdery’s emendation of the text in 1 Nephi 5:8.