One wonders here if the present-tense form become is an error for the past-tense became. Both the beginning and the ending of the passage are in the past tense:
- Alma 13:8–10 (possible emendation marked with an arrow)
- now they were ordained after this manner :
being called with a holy calling and ordained with a holy ordinance
and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order
which calling and ordinance and high priesthood is without beginning or end
→ thus they became high priests forever
after the order of the Son / the Only Begotten of the Father
which is without beginning of days or end of years
which is full of grace equity and truth
and thus it is / Amen
Now as I said concerning the holy order or this high priesthood
there were many which were ordained and became high priests of God
Notice in verse 10 (at the end) that after the doxology to the Son (beginning with “after the order of the Son” and ending with “and thus it is / Amen”), Alma repeats what he said earlier. He
explicitly introduces his reprise with “Now as I said concerning the holy order or this high priesthood” and then follows that with a repetition of the past-tense were ordained and a
repetition, if the emendation is accepted, of the past-tense became.
There is one example in the manuscripts that indirectly shows a tendency for the scribes to mix up become and became. (Here I exclude the use of became as the past
participle in the original text; for discussion of that usage, see under 1 Nephi 17:43.) This single example is found in that portion of the text where both 𝓟 and the 1830 edition were set from
𝓞:
- 4 Nephi 1:43
- and also the people which were called the people of Nephi began to be proud in their hearts because of their exceeding riches and [became 1KPS|become ABCDEFGHIJLMNOQRT]
vain like unto their brethren the Lamanites
As discussed under that passage, usage elsewhere in the text argues that became, the reading in 𝓟, is the original reading, which means that here we have a possible instance of
became being replaced by become. It is possible that the 1830 compositor set become in 4 Nephi 1:43 because the reading in 𝓞 looked somewhat like become rather
than became. There are also a few other examples of mix-ups between become and became in the printed editions:
- Alma 1:32 (1840 change from became to become)
- by thus exercising the law upon them every man suffering according to that which he had done they [became 1ABDEFIJLMNOQRT|become CGHKPS] more still and durst not commit
any wickedness
- 3 Nephi 7:12 (1906 LDS change from become to became)
- for he flattered them that there would be many dissenters and they [become 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRST|became N] sufficiently strong to contend with the tribes of the people
- Moroni 7:26 (1906 LDS change from become to became)
- and after that he came / men also were saved by faith in his name and by faith they [become 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRST|became N] the sons of God
Although there is only minor indirect evidence for mixing up become and became in the manuscripts, there is considerable evidence that the scribes had difficulty with the
historically related verb come, especially in their tendency to write the base form come in place of the correct past-tense form came:
- 1 Nephi 11:27 (scribe 3 of 𝓞’s came looks somewhat like come)
- I beheld the heavens open and the Holy Ghost [came /come 0|come 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNPQRST|came O] down out of heaven and
abode upon him in the form of a dove
- 2 Nephi 7:2 (Oliver Cowdery miscopied the came in 𝓞 as come in 𝓟)
- wherefore when I [came 0BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|come >js came 1|come A] there was no man when I called yea there
was none to answer
- Mosiah 11:17 (Oliver Cowdery probably miscopied came as come in 𝓟)
- and the Lamanites [come 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] upon them and killed them and drove many of their flocks out of the land
- Mosiah 19:13 (Oliver Cowdery initially miswrote came as come in 𝓟)
- and it [come > came 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] to pass that …
- Alma 4:15 (scribe 2 of 𝓟 miswrote came as come)
- and now it [come 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] to pass that …
- Alma 10:30 (scribe 2 of 𝓟 miswrote came as come)
- and it [come 1|came ABCFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|became DE] to pass that …
- Alma 35:8 (Oliver Cowdery initially miswrote came as come in 𝓞)
- and the chief ruler of the Zoramites being a very wicked man sent over unto the people of Ammon desiring them that they should cast out of their land all those which [come >
came 0|came 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] over from them into their land
- Alma 43:5 (Oliver Cowdery initially miswrote came in 𝓞 as come in 𝓟)
- and it came to pass that the Lamanites [came 0ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|come > came 1] with their thousands and they came into
the land of Antionum
- Helaman 11:34 (Oliver Cowdery miswrote came as come in 𝓟)
- now this great evil which [come 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] unto the people because of their iniquity did stir them up again in remembrance of the Lord their God
- 3 Nephi 4:22 (Oliver Cowdery apparently miswrote came as come in 𝓞; copied as come into both 𝓟 and the 1830 edition)
- and thus it became the desire of the people of Zemnarihah to withdraw from their design because of the great destruction which [come 1ABC|came
DEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] upon them by night and by day
- 3 Nephi 6:23 (Oliver Cowdery wrote came as come in 𝓟)
- now there were many of those which testified of the things pertaining to Christ / which testified boldly which were taken
and put to death secretly by the judges that the knowledge of their death [come 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] not unto the governor of the land until after their death
- 3 Nephi 6:25 (Oliver Cowdery initially wrote came as come in 𝓟)
- therefore a complaint [come > came 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] up unto the land of Zarahemla to the governor of the land against these judges which
had condemned the prophets of the Lord unto death
- Mormon 2:16 (scribe 2 of 𝓟 initially wrote came as come in 𝓟)
- and they were pursued until they [come > came 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] even to the land of Jashon
- Mormon 4:2 (scribe 2 of 𝓟 wrote came as come in 𝓟)
- and it [come 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] to pass that …
- Moroni 7:26 (Oliver Cowdery wrote came as come in 𝓟)
- and after that he [come 1|came ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] men also were saved by faith in his name
These many examples of came miswritten as come argue that scribe 2 of 𝓟 could have miswritten became as become in Alma 13:9—or that Oliver Cowdery could have
made that mistake in 𝓞 when he copied down Joseph Smith’s dictation.
It is possible that the present-tense form become entered the text in Alma 13:9 as a result of the present-tense is in the immediately following doxology:
- Alma 13:9 (earliest extant text)
- thus they become high priests forever after the order of the Son / the Only Begotten of the Father which is without beginning of days or end of years
which is full of grace equity and truth and thus it is / Amen
But another way to look at the occurrence of the present-tense become is to consider it part of the doxology. As David Calabro points out (personal communication), we get a similar use
of the present tense earlier in this chapter:
- Alma 13:3
- and this is the manner after which they were ordained : being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God on account of
their exceeding faith and good works in the first place being left to choose good or evil therefore they having chosen good and exercising exceeding great faith are called with a holy calling
yea with that holy calling which was prepared with and according to a preparatory redemption for such
Just as in verses 8–10, verse 3 has a present-tense verb form (“are called”) referring to accepting the calling of high priest, yet the larger passage begins and ends in the past tense (“were
ordained … was prepared”). Thus the earliest text in Alma 13:9 will work; even though become in verse 9 may be an error for became, the critical text will accept the earliest
reading, become.
