Alma 30:28 Textual Variants

Here the 1849 LDS edition replaced the first nor with or. This change is probably accidental since all other occurrences of “never X nor Y” have been retained in the text (including a second one in Alma 30:28):

• Alma 30:28
  • a being which never hath been seen nor known which never was nor never will be
• 3 Nephi 20:8
  • and their soul shall never hunger nor thirst but shall be filled
• Mormon 4:12
  • and there never had been so great wickedness among all the children of Lehi nor even among all the house of Israel

Joseph Smith also created an instance of “never X nor Y” in his editing for the 1837 edition, and this secondary instance has never been changed to “never X or Y”:

• Enos 1:8
  • because of thy faith in Christ whom thou hast [not >js never before 1|not A| never before BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] heard nor seen

As we might suspect, there are no instances of “never X or Y” in the original text. This instance of “never X or Y” in Alma 30:28 is the only one that has been introduced into the text.

This passage also has an original example of nor never, which Joseph Smith grammatically emended to nor ever in his editing for the 1837 edition, thus removing a multiple negative from the text. The critical text will restore this nonstandard usage since it is clearly intended. For another example, see under Jacob 7:9. For a general discussion of how negation has been edited in the text, see under negation in volume 3.