Mosiah 8:8 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men and of beasts [.&C. 1|&c. ABCDEFGHIKLMNOQ|etc. JPS| RT] and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind

The 1920 LDS edition removed the original etc. from the text here, probably because the reader expects only the bones of men and of beasts to be the result of warfare. Theoretically, there could have also been the bones of other vertebrates (such as birds, reptiles, and fish). Perhaps the original use of etc. implies that king Limhi’s search party simply noticed that there were all sorts of bones, both human bones (“bones of men”) and nonhuman bones (“bones ... of beasts etc.”). Another possibility, as noted by David Calabro (personal communication), is that the etc. refers to other objects that would have been found on the Jaredite battlefields, such as the breastplates and rusted sword blades mentioned nearby in verses 10–11. The critical text will restore the original etc. here in Mosiah 8:8 since it was clearly intended.

Summary: Restore the original etc. in Mosiah 8:8 since its use here is obviously intended.

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

References