1 Nephi 18:9 Textual Variants

The original construction here seems to be a conflation of two common possibilities. One possibility has even followed directly by a that-clause, and the other has even to followed by a gerundive phrase. There are 18 examples of the that-clause type in the original text, of which five are preceded by yea:

• 1 Nephi 10:9
  • and he also spake that he should baptize with water yea even that he should baptize the Messiah with water
• 1 Nephi 12:3
  • and I beheld many cities yea even that I did not number them
• Alma 29:10
  • then do I remember what the Lord has done for me yea even that he hath heard my prayer
• Alma 34:3–4
  • yea and he hath exhorted you unto faith and to patience yea even that ye would have so much faith as even to plant the word in your hearts that ye may try the experiment of its goodness
• Helaman 10:5
  • and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed / in faith and in works yea even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word

On the other hand, there are six examples of the second type (even to followed by a gerundive phrase); one of these examples is preceded by yea:

• Helaman 3:35
  • nevertheless they did fast and pray oft and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation yea even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts

Related to this second type are seven occurrences of even unto followed by a gerundive phrase, as in 1 Nephi 17:48 (“even unto the consuming of my flesh”).

In his editing of 1 Nephi 18:9 for the 1837 edition, Joseph Smith removed the infinitival to that preceded the that-clause. Thus he ended up creating an example of the first type—that is, a that-clause immediately following even. If Joseph had edited towards the second type, the edited text would have read something like “yea even to (the) forgetting by what power they had been brought thither”.

David Calabro has suggested (personal communication) that the reading of the original text (“even to that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither”) may be a Hebraism. In the Hebrew Bible, there are instances of the preposition fiad ‘to’ followed by ƒa¸ser ‘that’. Such examples are typically translated as until, as in this example:

• Genesis 27:44
  • King James Bible:
    • and tarry with him a few days until thy brother’s fury turn away
  • literal translation of the Hebrew:
    • and stay with him for a few days to that your brother’s anger subsides

In other words, the original to that in 1 Nephi 18:9 could be interpreted as meaning ‘until’—that is, “insomuch that they began to dance and to sing and to speak with much rudeness / yea even until they did forget by what power they had been brought thither”. Of course, the Book of Mormon has examples of even until. The most common type (with 38 occurrences) has even until followed by a declarative sentence without an intervening that, as in 1 Nephi 8:24: “even until they did come forth and partook of the fruit of the tree”. There is also one occurrence of even until followed by a gerundive phrase (in Ether 12:3: “even until the going down of the sun”).

The Hebrew-like construction “even to that” suggests that the original text in 1 Nephi 18:9 could be interpreted as meaning ‘even to the state that’. Despite its awkwardness and uniqueness, the earliest reading appears to be intentional and may be considered equivalent to ‘even until’ in modern English.