1 Nephi 20:1 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
hearken and hear this O house of Jacob
Isaiah 48:1 (King James Bible) hear ye this O house of Jacob

There are numerous differences between the King James version of Isaiah and how it is quoted in the Book of Mormon. For instance, in this very first line, the Book of Mormon text begins with “hearken and”, which is not in the corresponding Isaiah passage. Similarly, the first line from the Isaiah text has the subject pronoun ye, which is omitted from the Book of Mormon version. For both of these differences, there is no textual variation at all within the Book of Mormon sources; the only difference is found when we compare the Book of Mormon text with the King James Bible. These kinds of changes appear to be intentional, and unless there is evidence that the Book of Mormon reading is in error, such differences will not be discussed here in volume 4. However, such variants are discussed in a more general way in volume 3 in the section dealing with biblical quotations. In that volume, I also consider issues such as (1) the relationship of these variants to the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible and (2) the possible relationship between the italicized words in the King James Bible and changes in the Book of Mormon version. Volume 3 also includes a line-by-line comparison of the King James Bible with the reconstructed original text of the biblical quotations in the Book of Mormon.

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

References