Alma 33:14 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
now behold my brethren I would ask if ye have read [these 01|the ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] scriptures

Both manuscripts read “these scriptures”. The 1830 typesetter accidentally replaced the these with the. In the preceding verses (Alma 33:3–11 and Alma 33: 13), Alma specifically quotes Zenos rather than the scriptures in general; thus the use of “these scriptures” in verse 14 is perfectly appropriate since Alma is asking his audience if they have read what Zenos said about the Son of God. For an extensive list of mix-ups between these and the in the early history of the text, see the list under Jacob 1:1.

Summary: Restore the demonstrative pronoun these in Alma 33:14: “if ye have read these scriptures”.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 4

References