Alma 56:33 Textual Variants

The text here has an invariant came; it is quite possible that this came is a past-participial form rather than a simple past-tense form, as if the text reads “until I had gone forth with my little army and had came near the city Antiparah”. As explained under 1 Nephi 5:1, 4, the original text had quite a few cases where the past participle for the verb come was came rather than the standard come. Virtually all instances of past-participial came in the original text have been edited to come, but this may be one that has escaped editing. There is one example where such a conjoined came has been emended to come:

• Alma 43:35
  • and it came to pass that as the Lamanites had passed the hill Riplah and [came 0ART|came >js come 1|come BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQS] into the valley …

For discussion of this example, see under Alma 43:35.

Here is another case where the conjoined verb form may be a past participle that has never been emended:

• 3 Nephi 18:36
  • he touched with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen one by one even until he had touched them all and spake unto them as he touched them

For other examples in the original text of past-participial spake, see under 1 Nephi 3:30.

For an extensive discussion of this kind of usage, see under past participle in volume 3. In general, the critical text will maintain (or restore, as the case may be) all original nonstandard instances of the simple past-tense form for the past participle. Of course, here in Alma 56:33 and in 3 Nephi 18:36 we cannot be absolutely sure whether the conjoined verb form is actually a past participle.