1 Nephi 5:6 Textual Variants

Scribe 3 of 𝓞 initially wrote “after this manner did my father Lehi comfort my mother Sariah”, but soon corrected “after this manner” by supralinearly inserting “of language” (the level of ink flow is unchanged). Undoubtedly, scribe 3 expected only “after this manner”, which occurs frequently in the Book of Mormon (27 times) as well as in the King James Bible (16 times).

The specific use of the phraseology “after this manner of language” is found only in 1 Nephi and seems to be a peculiarity of Nephi’s speech. In fact, this same expression is used two other times in 1 Nephi 5 (in verses 3 and 8), so the added phrase “of language” in verse 6 is undoubtedly correct:

• 1 Nephi 3:21
  • after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren
• 1 Nephi 5:3
  • and after this manner of language had my mother complained 1 Nephi 5:6 and after this manner of language did my father Lehi comfort my mother Sariah
• 1 Nephi 5:8
  • and after this manner of language did she speak
• 1 Nephi 10:15
  • and after this manner of language did my father prophesy
• 1 Nephi 17:22
  • and after this manner of language did my brethren murmur In one case, “after this manner” serves as subject complement to the word language:
• 1 Nephi 1:15
  • and after this manner was the language of my father

For two cases in 1 Nephi, however, Nephi does not explicitly state that “after this manner” refers to language:

• 1 Nephi 16:38
  • and after this manner did my brother Laman stir up their hearts
• 1 Nephi 19:24
  • for after this manner hath the prophet written