3 Nephi 25:2 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves [of 1PS|in ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOQRT] the stall

Malachi 4:2 (King James Bible)and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall

The printer’s manuscript has the preposition of, which agrees with the King James reading in Malachi. The 1830 edition has the preposition in, but this is undoubtedly an error. The phraseology “calves of the stall” sounds unusual, while “calves in the stall” seems more expected for modern English speakers. This expectation was the probable source for the change that the 1830 typesetter accidentally introduced. Such an error also shows that the 1830 typesetter was apparently not systematically proofing the typeset text against his copy of the King James Bible. He seems to have used his Bible only when he thought something unusual or difficult needed to be figured out.

Summary: Restore the preposition of in 3 Nephi 25:2 (“as calves of the stall”); this reading is found in the printer’s manuscript and agrees with the King James reading.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 6

References