Isaiah 9:17 (King James Bible) but his hand is stretched out still
The King James clause “but his hand is stretched out still” occurs five times in the Isaiah quotation for 2 Nephi 12–24; in each case, the italicized is is omitted in the original Book of Mormon text. Besides this occurrence here in 2 Nephi 19:17, we have the following four examples:
There is one additional example of “his hand is stretched out”, and there too the original Book of Mormon text is missing the italicized is of the King James Bible:
In 2 Nephi 19:12, the 1837 edition supplied the is. This example of the inserted is was removed in the 1908 RLDS edition. Most of the changes for that edition were based on a close examination of the printer’s manuscript, which shows no inserted is for 2 Nephi 19:12.
The LDS text has been edited in the opposite direction. The editors for the 1920 LDS edition accepted the 1837 change in 2 Nephi 19:12 and then extended it by inserting the is in the five other cases. But for 2 Nephi 19:17, these editors also had to remove one complicating change that had been introduced in the 1852 LDS edition. The context in 2 Nephi 19:17 (as well as in the five other cases) implies a present-tense reading. But in the 1852 edition, the verb form stretched in 2 Nephi 19:17 was interpreted as a simple past-tense form rather than as a past participle, with the result that stretched was replaced by stretcheth. Yet this change was not implemented in the subsequent three cases of “his hand stretched out” (or in the previous ones in 2 Nephi 15:25 or 2 Nephi 19:12), which suggests that the unique replacement of stretched by stretcheth in verse 17 was unintentional. This reading remained in the LDS text until the editors of the 1920 edition restored the original stretched and then supplied the King James is (consistent with their editing of the other instances of “his hand stretched out” to “his hand is stretched out”).
As noted in the discussion under 2 Nephi 13:14, the critical text will maintain the earliest Book of Mormon text whenever it lacks the linking verb be that is italicized in the corresponding King James text.
Summary: Restore in 2 Nephi 12–24 the original text that omitted the is that is italicized in the King James Bible for all six occurrences of the Isaiah clause “his hand is stretched out”.