1 Nephi 14:2 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
they shall [NULL > be 1|be ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] no more brought down into captivity

Oliver Cowdery’s correction in 𝓟 shows a tendency to write “they shall no more be brought down into captivity”. Here Oliver apparently caught his error before completing the rest of the expected verb phrase (“shall no more be brought down”). Elsewhere the text definitely favors placing “no more” right after the modal verb, including one other example later in this same verse (which may have been the source of Oliver’s initial error in 1 Nephi 14:2):

We have only one other case involving the placement of “no more”, and in this instance “no more” comes after the entire verb phrase:

Although this unique occurrence is found in an Isaiah passage, this actual sentence is not found in the corresponding Isaiah verse (Isaiah 49:13), so we can consider this clause as representing the Book of Mormon style rather than the King James style.

Here in 1 Nephi 14:2, the original manuscript probably had the exceptional order (“shall be no more brought down”); otherwise, there would have been no reason for Oliver Cowdery to have corrected the order in 𝓟.

Summary: Follow the unique order “shall be no more brought down” in 1 Nephi 14:2.

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

References