Alma 21:5 Textual Variants

The syntax here seems quite strange. What we expect is something like “there arose an Amlicite who began to contend with him”, as in the following:

• 4 Nephi 1:36 (which was edited to who were in the 1837 edition)
  • and it came to pass that in this year there arose a people which was called the Nephites

Another possible emendation for Alma 21:5 is that the original text had a pronoun he: “behold there arose an Amlicite and he began to contend with him”. And there is also evidence for this construction:

• Ether 11:17
  • and it came to pass that there arose another mighty man and he was a descendant of the brother of Jared
• Ether 13:23
  • and it came to pass that there arose up Shared and he also gave battle unto Coriantumr
• Ether 14:3
  • behold there arose the brother of Shared and [NULL > he 1|he ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] gave battle unto Coriantumr

The last example shows Oliver Cowdery initially omitting the subject pronoun he; without the correction, 𝓟 read “there arose the brother of Shared and gave battle unto Coriantumr”, just like in Alma 21:5. Thus Oliver could have accidentally omitted the subject pronoun he in Alma 21:5. Also note that just before, in the preceding verse, Oliver initially omitted the subject pronoun he in 𝓟 (see the preceding discussion under Alma 21:4).

Despite these arguments for emending Alma 21:5, there is one other example in the text of this strange construction:

• Ether 11:15
  • and there arose a mighty man among them in iniquity and gave battle unto Moron

Nor has this example ever been edited, just like Alma 21:5. It appears that this existential construction, although strange in modern English, is intended. In fact, there is also one example of this construction in the King James Bible:

• Mark 14:57
  • and there arose certain and bare false witness against him saying …

The critical text will therefore maintain the two Book of Mormon instances of “there arose X and did something”, despite the difficulty of this construction.