and I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us if not all may be saved in his kingdom at [that 1ABCDEFGHIJLMNOPQRST|the K] great and last day
Here the 1892 RLDS edition replaced the demonstrative that with the definite article the in the phrase “that great and last day”, probably accidentally. The 1908 edition restored
the that to the RLDS text. The immediately preceding verse specifically refers to the day of judgment:
- 2 Nephi 33:11
- and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar
Thus the use of that is perfectly appropriate in verse 12. Elsewhere in the text we get the same kind of initial reference to the day of judgment followed by the demonstrative
that:
- Mormon 9:2, 6
- yea in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God … O then ye unbelieving turn ye unto the Lord cry mightily unto the Father in the name of
Jesus that perhaps ye may be found spotless pure fair and white having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb at that great and last day
There is one other example where the has replaced that in the expression “that great and last day”. The 1905 LDS edition initiated this change, probably accidentally:
- Helaman 12:25
- but we read that in [that 1ABCDEFGHIJKLNOPS|the MQRT] great and last day there are some which shall be cast out
In this case, the incorrect use of the has persisted in the LDS text. Like 2 Nephi 33:12 and Mormon 9:6, this particular instance also has a preceding reference to the day of judgment,
at least by implication:
- Helaman 12:20–21
- and behold if the Lord shall say unto a man because of thine iniquities thou shalt be accursed forever and it shall be done and if the Lord shall say because of thine iniquities thou
shalt be cut off from my presence and he will cause that it shall be so
On the other hand, there are two cases in the original text of “the great and last day”; for each of these, there is no preceding reference to the day of judgment:
- 2 Nephi 2:26
- and the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time that he might redeem the children of men from the fall and because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever
knowing good from evil to act for themselves and not to be acted upon save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day according to the commandments
which God hath given
- 3 Nephi 26:3–4
- and he did expound all things even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory yea even all things which should come upon the face of the earth even until the
elements should melt with fervent heat and the earth should be wrapped together as a scroll and the heavens and the earth should pass away and even unto the great and last
day when all people and all kindreds and all nations and tongues shall stand before God to be judged of their works whether they be good or whether they be evil
Thus the use of the demonstrative that is wholly appropriate in 2 Nephi 33:12, Helaman 12:25, and Mormon 9:6. For further discussion, see Helaman 12:25.
