Ether 12:6 Textual Variants

The 1830 typesetter removed the not before until, perhaps accidentally. Based on spacing between extant fragments, the original manuscript probably had the not. One could interpret the original text here as a case of multiple negation and thus justify the editing out of the not in the standard text. (For similar examples of multiple negation that have been removed from the Book of Mormon text, see under 2 Nephi 26:32.) Another possibility would be to place a comma after witness, which would then directly attach the not to the following until phrase; this would imply closure after “ye receive no witness”, which would be premature.

There are no other examples in the text like this one. There are two other instances of not until, both in Ether, but they are not the same kind as the one in the original text for Ether 12:6:

• Ether 2:10
  • and it is not until the fullness of iniquity among the children of the land that they are swept off
• Ether 3:28
  • the Lord commanded him that he should seal up the two stones which he had received and shew them not until the Lord should shew them unto the children of men

The 1830 removal of the not before until in Ether 12:6 is consistent with the rest of the Book of Mormon text (as well as with standard English). This decision also agrees with the text of the following verse, which has a negative clause before until but without a not in front of the until:

• Ether 12:7
  • and he shewed not himself unto them until after they had faith in him

It may have been this nearby reading that prompted the removal of the extra not earlier in verse 6, even if unintentional. Of course, the critical text will restore the not in Ether 12:6 since the original text had numerous examples of multiple negation. For a complete list, see under negation in volume 3.