1 Nephi 15:5 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
for I considered that mine afflictions was great above all because of the [distruction 0|destructions 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR|destruction ST] of my people

When he copied from 𝓞 into 𝓟, Oliver Cowdery accidentally added a plural s to the word destruction. The 1953 RLDS edition and the 1981 LDS edition have restored the singular, although the RLDS change was based on the expectation of English speakers, while the change in the LDS text was most probably based on reference to the original manuscript (which was used to restore in the 1981 edition both minor and major changes in the text).

The singular form destruction is much more frequent in the Book of Mormon than the plural destructions (154 versus 9 occurrences). The plural form destructions always has the meaning ‘destructive events’ and is not used to refer to the complete destruction of a people (as here in 1 Nephi 15:5). In virtually every plural example, destructions either occurs in conjunction with other plural nouns or is preceded by a plural quantifier such as all or many:

In the last example, the text is not referring to the ultimate, complete destruction of the Jaredites but instead to the destructive events that they suffered day after day. This passage, as well as the one in Alma 51:16, shows early textual variation, but in both cases the context and meaning suggest that the plural destructions is correct. (See Alma 51:16 and Ether 13:14 for discussion.)

Textual variants also support the conclusion that the plural destructions is restricted to the meaning ‘destructive events’. In the following cases, a textual source shows an initial extension of the plural to cases involving the annihilation of a nation or an army or some other group of people, but then the error is subsequently corrected:

Thus in 1 Nephi 15:5, the original manuscript as well as usage elsewhere in the text supports the singular reading.

Summary: Maintain the original singular destruction in 1 Nephi 15:5 since there it refers to the entire destruction of Nephi’s people.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 1

References