1 Nephi 6:1 Textual Variants

As Oliver Cowdery was copying the text from 𝓞 into 𝓟, he initially wrote “the genealogy of my father”, thinking perhaps that Nephi was referring to his father’s genealogy rather than his own. It appears that Oliver immediately caught his error; there is no change in the level of ink flow. The original manuscript reads in the plural.

Normally the text prefers the plural (either fathers or forefathers) when describing someone’s genealogy, with most examples referring to Lehi’s genealogy:

• 1 Nephi 3:3
  • for behold Laban hath the record of the Jews
    and also a genealogy of my forefathers
• 1 Nephi 5:14
  • my father Lehi also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers
• 1 Nephi 5:16
  • and thus my father Lehi did discover the genealogy of his fathers
• 1 Nephi 19:2
  • wherefore the record of my father and the genealogy of his forefathers
  • and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness
    are engraven upon those first plates of which I have spoken
• Omni 1:18
  • Zarahemla gave a genealogy of his fathers according to his memory

Only in one case do we actually have the singular:

• 1 Nephi 3:12
  • and he desired of Laban the records
    which were engraven upon the plates of brass
    which contained the genealogy of my father

This unique use of the singular seems appropriate for this verse. Taken as a whole, the context implies that Laman, in requesting the plates from Laban, referred to the fact that the plates of brass contained the genealogy of his father, Lehi, thus providing a more specific reason why Laman, a son of Lehi, was asking for the plates. In any event, there is no specific evidence that the use of the singular father in 1 Nephi 3:12 is a scribal error for fathers.