1 Nephi 17:2 Textual Variants

While copying from 𝓞 to 𝓟, Oliver Cowdery accidentally replaced the singular murmuring with the plural murmurings. This error may have been influenced by the immediately preceding plural form journeyings. The plural noun form journeyings itself is undoubtedly correct; the text prefers the plural journeyings over the singular noun journeying ( 7 to 1).

Elsewhere the text has a variety of examples with the gerundive verbal following the preposition without:

• Mosiah 26:39
  • being commanded of God to pray without ceasing 
    [“without ceasing” also occurs in Alma 26:22, Alma 36:24, 3 Nephi 19:24, and 3 Nephi 19:30]
• Alma 24:22
  • and thus without meeting any resistance they did slay a thousand and five of them
• Alma 32:16
  • therefore blessed are they who humbleth themselves without being compelled to be humble
• Alma 32:16
  • yea without being brought to know the word or even compelled to know before they will believe
• Alma 58:28 (similarly in 3 Nephi 3:10)
  • we did take possession of the city of Manti without the shedding of blood
• Mormon 5:2
  • for they repented not of their iniquities but did struggle for their lives without calling upon that Being who had created them

Thus in 1 Nephi 17:2, the singular murmuring in 𝓞 should be accepted as a gerundive verbal since it is preceded by without. On the other hand, the count noun murmuring(s) is always in the plural; for discussion, see 1 Nephi 16:25.