Joseph Smith deleted wherefore in the printer’s manuscript for the 1837 edition, but then he apparently restored it in the 1840 edition (based perhaps on his minor use of the original
manuscript to restore some lost words and phrases in the 1840 edition). It seems that Joseph was unsure whether he should delete wherefore when it was preceded by a dependent clause.
In the original Book of Mormon text, there are 12 other occurrences of wherefore preceded by a dependent clause. Joseph Smith removed four of these (for a complete list, see the
discussion under 1 Nephi 11:1). But in eight cases, the original wherefore has never been removed, despite a preceding dependent clause:
- 1 Nephi 2:16
- and it came to pass that I Nephi being exceeding young nevertheless being large in stature and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God wherefore I cried unto the Lord
- Nephi 4:26
- and he supposing that I spake of the brethren of the church and that I was truly that Laban whom I had slew wherefore he did follow me
- Jacob 7:26
- and the record of this people being kept on the other plates of Nephi wherefore I conclude this record
- Jarom 1:2
- and as these plates are small and as these things are written for the intent of the benefit of our brethren the Lamanites wherefore it must needs be that I write a little
- Omni 1:25
- and having no seed and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man before the Lord wherefore I shall deliver up these plates unto him
- Omni 1:28
- and their leader being a strong and a mighty man and a stiff-necked man wherefore he caused a contention among them
- Ether 10:1
- and it came to pass that Shez which was a descendant of Heth for Heth had perished by the famine and all his household save it were Shez wherefore Shez began to build up again a broken
people
- Ether 13:16
- and now Coriantumr having studied himself in all the arts of war and all the cunning of the world wherefore he gave battle unto them
Thus there is nothing particularly unusual about the use of wherefore in 1 Nephi 19:23. And for the 1840 edition, Joseph Smith apparently decided to restore the wherefore that
he had consciously deleted in the 1837 edition.
