Omni 1:25 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
for there is nothing which is good save it [come > comes 1|comes ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] from [God > NULL 1| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the Lord

Here we have two virtually immediate corrections in the printer’s manuscript. The level of ink flow is unchanged, unlike most of the corrections that occurred in this part of the text (when Oliver Cowdery later proofed 𝓟 against 𝓞; see the discussion under Omni 1:17). Here in verse 25 Oliver initially wrote “save it come from God”—that is, he wrote the subjunctive verb form come rather than the indicative comes, and he also wrote God instead of the Lord. Almost immediately Oliver inserted the s ending for come and crossed out God and then wrote inline the correct the Lord. The phrase “God the Lord” is not found in the Book of Mormon at all, although it is found seven times in the King James Old Testament.

As discussed under 2 Nephi 9:20, the Book of Mormon text has examples of both the subjunctive and the indicative in subordinate clauses headed by save. In each instance, the critical text will follow the earliest textual sources. Thus the indicative comes, the corrected reading in 𝓟, will be accepted here. For additional discussion, see under mood in volume 3.

Summary: Maintain in Omni 1:25 the two virtually immediate corrections that Oliver Cowdery made in “save it comes from the Lord”.

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

References