Narrative: There is no narrative reason for repeating “dark and dreary” here; but perhaps its first occurrence was Nephi’s introduction, even though he is explicitly quoting Lehi, and this second occurrence settles into the story as Lehi told it. Logically, the messenger would appear first and introduce Lehi into the “dark and dreary waste.”
Variant: A different reading for this verse appears in the original manuscript, the printer’s manuscript, and the 1830 edition: “And it came to pass that as I followed him and after I had followed him I beheld myself.… ” This redundant phrase was removed in the 1837 printing and all subsequent editions.