1 Nephi 17:41 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
and he did [straiten 01OQRT|straighten ABCDEFGHIJKLMNPS] them in the wilderness with his rod for they hardened their hearts even as ye have and the Lord [straitened 01OQRT|straightened ABCDEFGHIJKLMNPS] them because of their iniquity

The current LDS text spells the verb as straiten, while the RLDS text spells it as straighten. Clearly the meaning here is ‘to subject to hardship or distress’ rather than ‘to make straight’; thus the correct spelling of the verb is straiten, which derives from the adjective strait, meaning ‘narrow’. For discussion regarding the spelling of strait and straight, see 1 Nephi 8:20. Also see strait in volume 3.

Summary: Based on the meaning, the correct spelling is straiten for the two occurrences of that verb in 1 Nephi 17:41.

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

References