Mosiah 23:20 Textual Variants

Here the 1830 edition omitted the phrase “the city of ”. One might consider the omission as possibly intentional since the original text is redundant (“they built a city which they called the city of Helam”). Nonetheless, the 1837 edition restored the original “the city of ”, undoubtedly by reference to the printer’s manuscript.

Usually the text does not show this kind of redundancy; normally we have nonrepetitious language, as in the following sampling involving the words city, land, and valley:

• Alma 6:7 the city of Gideon which was in the valley that was called Gideon
• Alma 8:6 he came to a city which was called Ammonihah
• Alma 21:1 Aaron took his journey towards the land which was called by the Lamanites Jerusalem

But there are a few more instances in the text of the redundant usage:

• Omni 1:13 they came down into the land which is called the land of Zarahemla
• Alma 5:3 the land was called the land of Mormon
• Alma 6:7 there having been a city built which was called the city of Gideon

None of these examples were removed in the 1830 edition, which argues that the 1830 omission of “the city of ” in Mosiah 23:20 was unintentional. The critical text will retain this kind of redundant usage wherever it is supported by the earliest textual sources.