1 Nephi 10:6 Textual Variants

Here Joseph Smith edited “all mankind was” to “all mankind were”. The singular works as long as mankind is considered a collective whole, but the use later on in the verse of the plural pronoun they suggests that “all mankind” should be treated as a plurality of separate individuals (“save they should rely on this Redeemer”).

Elsewhere the text has consistently preferred the plural were with “all mankind”:

• Mosiah 16:4
  • thus all mankind were lost and behold they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state
• Alma 42:14
  • and thus we see that all mankind were fallen and they were in the grasp of justice

Nonetheless, the critical text will restore the singular was in 1 Nephi 10:6 since its use there appears to be intentional. For complete discussion, see subject-verb agreement in volume 3.