1 Nephi 15:36 Textual Variants

The 1888 LDS large-print edition replaced the plural fruits with the singular. Since this edition was never used as a copy-text for later editions, the plural fruits has been retained in all subsequent LDS editions. Usually English speakers treat the word fruit as a mass noun rather than as a count noun, but occasionally the plural count noun fruits occurs in the original text of the Book of Mormon. In the King James Bible, the plural use is quite frequent (as in Matthew 7:20: “wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them”).

In 1 Nephi 8:1, we have the plural fruits in the phrase “the seeds of fruits”. This phrase appears nowhere else in the text. But for a number of other expressions, we get variation within the earliest textual readings, usually with the singular mass noun fruit dominating. In this particular instance, we see that for the phrase “all other fruit(s)”, we get the plural only once, namely here in 1 Nephi 15:36:

all other fruit (3 times) / all other fruits (1 time)

• 1 Nephi 8:12 desirous above all other fruit
• 1 Nephi 8:15 desirable above all other fruit
• 1 Nephi 15:36 most desirable of all other fruits
• Jacob 5:61 the most precious above all other fruit

For other phrases, fruit is usually more frequent than fruits, but not always:

all manner of fruit (3 times) / all manner of fruits (1 time)

• Enos 1:21 raise all manner of grain and of fruit
• Mosiah 9:9 with seeds of all manner of fruits
• Mosiah 10:4 raise all manner of grain and all manner of fruit of every kind
• Ether 9:17 having all manner of fruit and of grain

much fruit (11 times, with 8 examples from Jacob 5) / much fruits (1 time)

• 1 Nephi 17:5 because of its much fruit
• 1 Nephi 17:6 because of its much fruit
• 1 Nephi 18:6 we had prepared all things: much fruits and meat
• Jacob 5:18 I shall lay up much fruit
• Jacob 5:19 hath not brought forth much fruit also
• Jacob 5:20 it had brought forth much fruit
• Jacob 5:20 it hath brought forth much fruit
• Jacob 5:22 it hath brought forth much fruit
• Jacob 5:23 it hath brought forth much fruit
• Jacob 5:31 I have laid up unto myself against the season much fruit
• Jacob 5:32 it hath brought forth much fruit
• Alma 29:15 and have brought forth much fruit

fruit of one’s labor (1 time) / fruits of one’s labors (3 times)

• Alma 26:31 and see the fruits of our labors
• Alma 29:17 which are the fruit of their labor
• Alma 36:25 exceeding great joy in the fruits of my labors
• Alma 40:26 to partake of the fruits of their labors

Because of this variation, we let the earliest textual sources determine for each case whether the reading should be a singular mass noun (such as fruit) or a plural count noun (such as fruits).