2 Nephi 33:4 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
and I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people and the things which I have written in weakness will he make strong unto them for it persuadeth them to do good it maketh known unto them of their fathers and it speaketh of Jesus and persuadeth [men 1A|them BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] to believe in him

Here the 1837 edition introduced the reading them in place of the original reading, men. The probable source for the change is the use of them three times earlier in the verse, especially the use of persuadeth them in the clause “for it persuadeth them to do good”. Yet these three occurrences of them refer to Nephi’s own people: note the use of the phrase “for the gain of my people” at the beginning of the verse as well as the reference to their fathers following the last occurrence of them (“it maketh known unto them of their fathers”). But at the end of the verse, Nephi changes the reference to all of mankind. Indeed, the Book of Mormon seeks to persuade all men (not just Nephi’s people) to believe in Jesus Christ.

This 1837 change is undoubtedly a typo, especially since it makes a unintended change in meaning. Moreover, the change was not marked by Joseph Smith in the printer’s manuscript. Surprisingly, the 1908 RLDS edition did not restore the men here. The critical text will restore the original men; it is definitely the superior reading.

Summary: Restore men in 2 Nephi 33:4 since this reading clearly represents the intended meaning of the original text.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 2

References