Helaman 14:5 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
and behold there shall [be 1CGHKPS| ABDEFIJLMNOQRT] a new star arise such an one as ye never have beheld

The original manuscript is not extant for any part of this sentence, which means that spacing between extant fragments of 𝓞 cannot help determine the reading in 𝓞. The 1830 edition is missing the be verb, whereas the printer’s manuscript has it. The phraseology with the be is the more difficult reading for modern readers, and one might expect change to occur in the direction of omitting the be. In the 1840 edition the be was restored to the text, and the RLDS text continues with it (especially since 𝓟 has the be). It is possible, although not probable, that Joseph Smith referred to the original manuscript in making this change. The improbability arises because we can find no firm evidence except in 1 Nephi for Joseph’s restoration of original manuscript readings in the 1840 edition. (For evidence of the use of 𝓞 in the 1840 editing, see the discussion under the 1 Nephi preface regarding the clause “they call the name of the place Bountiful”.)

There is independent evidence in the original text for the expression “there shall be none ”, namely, originally in 2 Nephi 1:6: “there shall be none come into this land”. Joseph Smith removed the be in this particular case; but as explained under 2 Nephi 1:6, the critical text will restore the be since it appears to be fully intended in the earliest text. Of course, the use of be in both 2 Nephi 1:6 and Helaman 14:5 is mutually supporting.

Summary: Restore the be in Helaman 14:5, the reading in 𝓟 (and the 1840 edition): “and behold there shall be a new star arise”); although unexpected, such a construction is supported by the original text in 2 Nephi 1:6 (“there shall be none come into this land”).

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 5

References