2 Nephi 21:13 Textual Variants

Isaiah 11:13 (King James Bible) the envy also of Ephraim shall depart

Here the placement of also is different in the Book of Mormon text than in the King James Bible. The word also is not found at all in the Hebrew original but was added in the English translation of Isaiah (although not in italics). The placement of also between the head noun envy and its postmodifying prepositional phrase of Ephraim is awkward in modern English; thus the Book of Mormon placement of the also after the entire noun phrase is probably intended. Of course, it is also possible that the change in word order may be due to an accident in the early transmission of the Book of Mormon text. There are a couple of examples in the printer’s manuscript where Oliver Cowdery initially put also in the wrong place as he copied from 𝓞 into 𝓟:

• Mosiah 3:4
  • that they [also may > may also 1|may also ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] be filled with joy
• Alma 33:10
  • yea and thou [hast also 0ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|also hast >+ hast also 1] heard me
• Alma 52:10
  • and that he [would also > also would 1|also would ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] fortify and strengthen the cities round about

In each of these cases, Oliver caught his error and corrected in 𝓟 the placement of the also.

There are also examples in the printing of the editions where also has been accidentally put in the wrong place:

• 2 Nephi 11:3 (1888 LDS edition)
  • and my brother Jacob [also hath 1A|also has BCDEFGHIKLMNOPQRST|has also J] seen him
• 2 Nephi 12:8 (1852 LDS edition)
  • their land [also is 1ABCDEGHKPS|is also FIJLMNOQRT] full of idols
• Jacob 7:12 (1906 LDS edition)
  • and it [also hath 01A|also has BCDEFGHIJKLMOPQRST|has also N] been made manifest unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost
• Alma 14:10 (1852 LDS edition)
  • he [was also 1ABCDEGHKPS|also was FIJLMNOQRT] pained
• Alma 19:14 (1830 edition)
  • and he [also was 01|was also ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] overpowered with joy
• Alma 20:13 (1830 edition)
  • and now his children [also are 1|are also ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] come amongst us
• Mormon 8:30 (1849 LDS edition)
  • and there shall [also be 1ABCDFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|be also E] heard of wars

Like the three errors that Oliver Cowdery made in 𝓟, these errors in the editions involve the placement of also with respect to the verb phrase. This confining of the errors to the verb phrase basically means that there is no specific evidence that the scribes or the printers had difficulty with the placement of also in other positions in the text. Since in 2 Nephi 21:13 the placement of also after the whole noun phrase will definitely work, the critical text will maintain that order.