there would also have been peace among the people of Nephi had it not been for a contention which took place among them concerning the land of Lehi and the land of Morionton which joined upon the
borders of Lehi both of which were on the borders [by 01ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPQRST|of J] the seashore
Here the original text reads “on the borders by the seashore”. The 1888 LDS large-print edition replaced the preposition by with of. Since that edition was
never used as a copytext for subsequent LDS editions, the change to of was restricted to that edition. Elsewhere the preposition by is preferred in similar phrases:
- Alma 22:28 in the borders by the seashore
- Alma 50:9 to the borders by the seashore
- Alma 51:22 in the borders by the seashore
- Alma 51:26 on the east borders by the seashore
- Alma 51:32 in the borders on the beach by the seashore
- Alma 52:11 in the borders of the land by the west sea
- Alma 52:12 on the borders by the west sea
- Alma 52:13 on the borders by the east sea
- Alma 56:31 on the borders by the seashore
- Alma 62:25 in the borders by the seashore
- Alma 62:32 upon the borders by the seashore
- Mormon 2:6 in the borders west by the seashore
- Mormon 4:3 in the borders by the seashore
- Ether 14:26 to the borders by the seashore
In three of these cases, the preposition by has been accidentally replaced with of, just like here in Alma 50:25:
- Alma 62:25 (1892 RLDS edition)
- in the borders [by 1ABCDEFGHIJLMNOQRT|of KPS] the seashore
- Mormon 4:3 (1906 LDS edition)
- in the borders [by 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRST|of N] the seashore
- Ether 14:26 (1837 edition)
- to the borders [by 1AT|of BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS] the seashore
Finally, there are a few cases where the earliest text has a different preposition than by:
- 1 Nephi 16:14 in the borders near the Red Sea
- Alma 22:27 on the borders of the seashore
- Alma 50:15 by the borders of the seashore
- Ether 14:12 to the borders upon the seashore
For each phrase of the form “the borders the sea(shore)”, the critical text will select the preposition that occurs in the earliest textual sources, thus by here in Alma 50:25.
