1 Nephi 13:29 Textual Variants

and thou seest because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book which were plain unto the [understanding of the 0ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|NULL >+ understanding of the 1] children of men

The original manuscript is extant here and reads “plain unto the understanding of the children of men”. Normally, the noun phrase after “plain unto” refers directly to people, not to their understanding:

2 Nephi 1:26 he hath been plain unto you
2 Nephi 9:47 would I be plain unto you
2 Nephi 25:4 the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you
2 Nephi 25:4 they are plain unto all they that …
2 Nephi 26:33 save it be plain unto the children of men

The expected phraseology (“plain unto the children of men”, as in 2 Nephi 26:33) may explain why Oliver Cowdery, while copying from 𝓞 to 𝓟, initially wrote “plain unto the children of men”. His supralinear correction in 𝓟 was probably done later when he proofed 𝓟 against 𝓞 (the level of ink ﬂow is somewhat heavier).

Summary: Maintain the reading of the original manuscript in 1 Nephi 13:29 (“plain unto the understanding of the children of men”), despite its uniqueness in the text.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 1

References