Alma 57:34 Textual Variants

𝓞 is not extant here, but there is room in the lacuna for an of in the phrase “the city (of ) Cumeni”, although such an of could have been crossed out in 𝓞. There is no of in 𝓟, although it was added to the LDS text in the 1852 edition. The extra of was removed in the 1920 LDS edition, in accord with the reading of the early editions. This change was fully intended since the 1920 editors marked it in the committee copy.

As with most instances of “city (of) X” in the Book of Mormon, there are examples of both “city of Cumeni” and “city Cumeni” in the text; here the two instances with of are each marked with an asterisk:

• * Alma 56:14 and the city of Zeezrom and the city of Cumeni and the city of Antiparah
• Alma 57:7 to protect the city Cumeni
• Alma 57:8 we did surround by night the city Cumeni
• Alma 57:12 in obtaining the city Cumeni
• Alma 57:23 and we retained our city Cumeni
• * Alma 57:31 the armies of the Lamanites are a marching towards the city of Cumeni
• Alma 57:34 we took our march with speed towards the city Cumeni

The critical text will follow the earliest extant sources in determining whether the of is in the phrase “city (of) Cumeni”. Here in Alma 57:34, there is no of in the earliest extant source, the printer’s manuscript. For another example of the variability of the of in “city (of) X”, see the nearby discussion under Alma 56:14 regarding “city (of) Antiparah”.