3 Nephi 1:8 Textual Variants

The printer’s manuscript has the past-tense modal should, while the 1830 edition has the presenttense modal shall. The whole passage otherwise uses past-tense verb forms (did watch, were, might know, had not been); this consistency supports the use of should rather than shall. Normally, the Book of Mormon text has the past-tense should rather than the present-tense shall when the surrounding context is in the past tense, even when referring to future events:

• 1 Nephi 10:11
  • and it came to pass that after my father had spoken these words he spake unto my brethren concerning the gospel which should be preached among the Jews
• 1 Nephi 19:10
  • according to the words of Zenos which he spake concerning the three days of darkness which should be a sign given of his death unto them who should inhabit the isles of the sea
• 2 Nephi 31:4
  • wherefore I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord shewed unto me that should baptize the Lamb of God which should take away the sin of the world
• Jacob 1:6
  • and we also had many revelations and the spirit of much prophecy wherefore we knew of Christ and his kingdom which should come
• Alma 16:16
  • and there was no unequality among them for the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land for to prepare the minds of the children of men or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming
• 3 Nephi 26:3
  • and he did expound all things even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory yea even all things which should come upon the face of the earth even until the elements should melt with fervent heat and the earth should be wrapped together as a scroll and the heavens and the earth should pass away
• Ether 13:3
  • and that it was the place of the New Jerusalem which should come down out of heaven and the holy sanctuary of the Lord

In addition, there is definite evidence that the 1830 typesetter was inclined to replace instances of should with shall, especially when the text is referring to the future:

• 2 Nephi 25:19
  • for according to the words of the prophets the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem and according to the words of the prophets and also the word of the angel of God his name [should 1|shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] be Jesus Christ the Son of God
• Alma 46:22
  • yea he may cast us at the feet of our enemies even as we have cast our garments at thy feet to be trodden under foot if we [should 01|shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] fall into transgression
• Helaman 8:14
  • and as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness even so [should 1|shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] he be lifted up which should come
• Moroni 9:24
  • wherefore write somewhat a few things if thou art spared and [I should 1OPS|I shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMQRT|should I N] perish and not see thee

For a fifth possibility, see under 3 Nephi 26:9. Interestingly, the 1830 typesetter never once made the opposite change, of shall to should.

There is only one clear case where Oliver Cowdery permanently changed an original shall to should in his copywork:

• 1 Nephi 17:50
  • if he should command me that I should say unto this water : be thou earth [& it shall 0|it should 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] be earth

Yet this change is not simply an instance of replacing shall with should; it also represents Oliver’s decision to remove the original Hebraistic and that separated the if-clause and its following main clause. Other than this complicated case, there are no instances where Oliver permanently made the change from should to shall in his copywork. To be sure, there are a number of cases where Oliver initially wrote should instead of shall, including several here in 3 Nephi:

• Helaman 7:9 (error in 𝓟 virtually immediately corrected)
  • but behold I am consigned that these are my days and that my soul [should > shall 1|shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] be filled with sorrow
• 3 Nephi 9:5 (error in 𝓟 virtually immediately corrected)
  • that the blood of the prophets and the saints [should > shall 1|shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] not come up any more unto me against them
• 3 Nephi 9:7 (error in 𝓟 virtually immediately corrected)
  • that the blood of the prophets and the saints [should > shall 1|shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] not come up any more unto me against them
• 3 Nephi 16:3 (error in 𝓟 corrected later, probably when 𝓟 was proofed against 𝓞)
  • but I have received a commandment of the Father that I [should >+ shall 1|shall ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] go unto them

There is also one related case in 3 Nephi 9:8 where Oliver initially mixed up shall and should (see the discussion under that passage). On the other hand, there is one case where he initially wrote shall instead of should:

• Alma 37:4 (error in 𝓟 virtually immediately corrected)
  • until they [should 0ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|shall > should 1] go forth unto every nation

So Oliver definitely tended to mix up shall and should in his copywork, but only once (in 1 Nephi 17:50) did he make that change permanently (and that change involved the more significant issue of removing a Hebraistic and ). If we count only the permanent changes in the text, the 1830 typesetter was definitely more prone to switch these two modals than Oliver was. The critical text will therefore accept the reading of the printer’s manuscript here in 3 Nephi 1:8; the 1830 typesetter seems to have once more removed an unusual should in favor of the expected shall.