2 Nephi 18:18 Textual Variants

Isaiah 8:18 (King James Bible) from the LORD of Hosts which dwelleth in mount Zion

Up to this point, Joseph Smith was fairly consistent in his 1837 editing of which to who (or whom or that) when the original which referred to persons, as in the preceding examples in this long Isaiah quote:

• 2 Nephi 12:12
  • and upon every one [which >js who 1|which A|who BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] is lifted up
• 2 Nephi 13:12
  • O my people they [which >js who 1|which A|who BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] lead thee cause thee to err
• 2 Nephi 15:22–23
  • woe unto the mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink [which 1A|who BCDEFGHK|Who IJLMNOPQRST] justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him

But from chapter 18 until the end of chapter 24 (and even into chapter 25), Joseph temporarily ceased making this editorial change:

• 2 Nephi 18:18 the Lord of Hosts which dwelleth in mount Zion
• 2 Nephi 23:17 against them which shall not regard silver and gold
• 2 Nephi 24:12 art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations
• 2 Nephi 25:4 O my people which are of the house of Israel
• 2 Nephi 25:10 those which are carried away captive into Babylon
• 2 Nephi 25:18 a false Messiah which should deceive the people

Finally, in the middle of chapter 25, Joseph returned to editing the which:

• 2 Nephi 25:18
  • he [which 1A|who BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] should be rejected of the Jews
• 2 Nephi 25:22
  • the nations [which 1APS|who BCDEFGHIJKLMNOQRT] shall possess them

Even so, from 2 Nephi 27 through Jacob 4, most of the examples of which referring to persons are left unedited. In general, the editing of which to who is inconsistently applied in the Book of Mormon text. For a detailed list and complete analysis, see which in volume 3. Of course, the critical text will follow the earliest textual sources in determining whether a particular instance should read which or who.