1 Nephi 18:25 Textual Variants

As in 1 Nephi 18:2, we have here variation between man and men. When Oliver Cowdery copied from 𝓞 to 𝓟 here in verse 25, he accidentally changed the singular man to the plural men. Although there is no other occurrence in the text of the precise phrase “use of man” (or “use of men”), there is one extensive passage in Ether that parallels 1 Nephi 18:25. Here the associated word is useful rather than use, but still the text has the singular man rather than the plural men:

• Ether 9:18–19
  • and also all manner of cattle of oxen and cows and of sheep and of swine and of goats and also many other kind of animals which were useful for the food of man and they also had horses and asses and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms all of which were useful unto man

This passage thus supports the singular “use of man” in the original manuscript for 1 Nephi 18:25.