The printer’s manuscript and the 1830 edition differ here with respect to whether that should follow an immediately preceding “it came to pass”. In quite a few cases, there is clear
evidence that Oliver Cowdery omitted the that after “it came to pass”, usually momentarily but one time permanently (marked below with an asterisk):
- * 1 Nephi 7:7 (omitted when text copied from 𝓞 into 𝓟)
- and it came to pass [that 0| 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] in the which rebellion they were desirous to return unto the land of Jerusalem
- Alma 24:1 (initial error in 𝓞, corrected somewhat later)
- and it came to pass [NULL >– that 0|that 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the Amlicites and the Amulonites and the Lamanites …
- Alma 44:13 (initial error in 𝓞, immediately corrected)
- and it came to pass [the > that 0|that 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the soldier which stood by which smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah …
- Alma 51:7 (initial error in 𝓞, immediately corrected by erasure)
- and it came to pass [the >% that 0|that 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the voice of the people came in the favor of the freemen
- Alma 62:15 (initial error in 𝓟, virtually immediately corrected)
- and it came to pass [NULL > that 1|that ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] as they were marching towards the land …
- Alma 62:28 (initial error in 𝓟, virtually immediately corrected)
- and it came to pass [NULL > that 1|that ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] as many as were desirous unto them it was granted
- 3 Nephi 4:5 (initial error in 𝓟, corrected somewhat later but in the wrong place)
- and it came to pass [ 1|that ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] in [NULL >+ that 1| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the nineteenth year Giddianhi found that it was expedient that …
- 3 Nephi 8:1 (initial error in 𝓟, virtually immediately corrected)
- and now it came to pass [NULL > that 1|that ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] according to our record …
- Ether 13:18 (initial error in 𝓟, corrected somewhat later)
- wherefore it came to pass [NULL >+ that 1|that ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] in the first year that Ether dwelt in the cavity of a rock there was many people …
On the other hand, the 1830 compositor added a that after “it came to pass” only once:
- Alma 58:14
- and it came to pass [ 01|that ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] on the morrow that when the Lamanites saw that we were in the borders by the wilderness which was near the city that they sent out
their spies round about us that they might discover the number and the strength of our army
Most of the time, that immediately follows “it came to pass” in the text (about nine times more frequently than cases where the that is lacking). Thus the occurrence of
that after “it came to pass” in 3 Nephi 1:22 is favored, but not conclusively. When comparing Oliver Cowdery’s copywork with the 1830 compositor’s typesetting, we find that the odds of
Oliver omitting the that after “it came to pass” is somewhat greater (if we include his initial errors) than the compositor adding the that in that same context. This difference
is consistent with the general tendency in Book of Mormon copywork of omitting small words more frequently than adding them (as discussed in volume 3). The critical text will therefore accept the
1830 reading with the that here in 3 Nephi 1:22.
There are two other passages in this part of the text (where both 𝓟 and the 1830 edition are firsthand copies of 𝓞) that involve the loss or addition of that after “it came to pass”:
- 3 Nephi 8:5
- and it came to pass [that 1| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] in the thirty and fourth year in the first month in the fourth day of the month there arose a great storm
- Mormon 1:8
- and it came to pass [that 1| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] in this year there began to be a war
Both of these show the opposite variation as here in 3 Nephi 1:22; see under each of these passages for discussion.
