Mosiah 26:28 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
for him [I will 1ABDEFIJLMNOPQRST|will I CGHK] not receive at the last day

In this passage, the 1840 edition changed the word order from the noninverted I will to the inverted will I, the common order when there is a preceding object such as him. The 1908 RLDS edition restored the original noninverted order I will. The 1840 change was probably influenced by the two preceding occurrences of him will I in this chapter:

Other occurrences of him will I are found near the end of the Book of Mormon text:

There are also occurrences of him will I where him is the object of the preposition unto or to:

The noninverted order him I will is fairly rare, with only one other example besides the one here in Mosiah 26:28:

Despite its rarity, the noninverted word order of him I will here in Mosiah 26:28 will be maintained in the critical text. (For a similar example involving the inverted and noninverted word orders, see the nearby discussion under Mosiah 26:27 of “and then will I confess unto them that I never knew them”.)

Summary: Maintain in Mosiah 26:28 the original reading with its noninverted word order: “for him I will not receive at the last day”.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 3

References