2 Nephi 3:24 Textual Variants

There are a number of places where the original text had the verb raise for the intransitive verb rise. In accord with modern English usage, this example of raise was edited to rise in the 1852 LDS edition; since then, rise has continued in the LDS text. But the RLDS text has never implemented this grammatical change. There are at least three other examples of original intransitive raise, none of which have ever been edited to rise in any edition:

• 2 Nephi 10:11
  • and there shall be no kings upon the land which shall raise up unto the Gentiles
• Helaman 1:8
  • for he had raised up in rebellion and sought to destroy the liberty of the people
• Ether 15:31
  • Shiz raised upon his hands and fell

See each passage for discussion of these intransitive uses of raise. For a fourth possible example, see 2 Nephi 10:14.

Beyond its use in the Book of Mormon text, intransitive uses of raise are found in current English. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (see definition 37 under the verb raise), the intransitive use of raise dates as far back as the 1400s; although now obsolete in British English, it still occurs in American English. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage explains (under raise, rise) that in standard English raise is supposed to be only transitive. However, numerous examples show that raise has been used intransitively, even up to our own time (not only dialectally, but even sometimes in edited English). The OED gives the following citations of its use in the decades right before the translation of the Book of Mormon:

• George Washington (1785)
  • The Water having raised, … I could form no accurate judgment of the progress.
• John Hanson Beadle (1808)
  • Should the accused person or persons raise up with arms in his or their hands.
• T. Forsyth (1819)
  • As the Mississippi was raising, the current was very strong.

The critical text will always restore intransitive uses of raise, providing they are supported by the earliest textual sources.