2 Nephi 28:3 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
when the one shall say unto the other behold I / I am the Lord’s and the [other 1ABCDEGHKPS|others FIJLMNOQRT] shall say I / I am the Lord’s

The 1852 LDS edition introduced the plural others in place of the singular other, the reading of the original text. Subsequent LDS editions have followed this plural reading, yet the context clearly indicates that the singular is the correct reading. We first have “one” speaking to “the other”, then “the other” replying. The parallel reciprocal structure requires the use of the singular in both cases. Elsewhere in the text, there are ten occurrences of “the one … the other” but none of “the one … the others”. See Alma 41:5 for an example where Oliver Cowdery started to write “the others” in 𝓞 but immediately corrected it to “the other”.

Summary: Restore the singular other in 2 Nephi 28:3 (“and the other shall say”), the reading of the original text.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 2

References