3 Nephi 2:7–8 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
and nine years had passed away from the time [which >js when 1|which A|when BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the sign was given which was spoken of by the prophets that Christ should come into the world now the Nephites began to reckon their time from this period [which >js whn 1|which A|when BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the sign was given or from the coming of Christ

In his editing of this passage for the 1837 edition, Joseph Smith replaced two instances of the relative pronoun which with when; in standard English we expect when as the relative pronoun when the referent involves time. As explained under 1 Nephi 19:2, the original text of the Book of Mormon sometimes used which (possibly as a Hebraism) in place of the expected when. Here in 3 Nephi 2:7–8, the critical text will restore the two original which ’s that refer to time.

Summary: Restore in 3 Nephi 2:7–8 the two original uses of which as the relative pronoun; although standard English prefers when in these two cases, the original text of the Book of Mormon allows for either when or which.

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

References