2 Nephi 24:21 Textual Variants

prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquities of their fathers

Isaiah 14:21 (King James Bible) prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers

The King James Bible has the singular iniquity, the Book of Mormon the plural iniquities. It is possible that the Book of Mormon reading could be due to a copying error. There is considerable evidence that the Book of Mormon scribes frequently mixed up iniquity and iniquities, as in the following examples of where the scribe initially wrote the wrong one, then corrected it:

2 Nephi 4:17 (Oliver Cowdery’s initial error in 𝓟)
- my soul grieveth because of mine [iniquity >+ iniquities 1|iniquities ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST]
Mosiah 15:9 (Oliver Cowdery’s initial error in 𝓟)
- having broken the bands of death and taken upon himself their [iniquities >% iniquity 1|iniquity ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] and their transgressions
Mosiah 29:30 (Hyrum Smith’s initial error in 𝓟)
- if these people commit sins and [iniquity >% iniquities 1|iniquities ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST]
Alma 39:12 (Oliver Cowdery’s initial error in 𝓟 of iniquity for your iniquities)
- that ye refrain from [iniquity > your iniquities 1|your iniquities ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST]
Mormon 2:10 (Scribe 2 of 𝓟’s initial error)
- the Nephites began to repent of their [iniquities >% iniquity 1|iniquity ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST]

For one additional example (where it is difficult to determine whether the error occurred in 𝓟 or in the 1830 edition), see Mormon 8:36.

Of particular relevance for 2 Nephi 24:21 is Mosiah 14, where Isaiah 53 is quoted. There the King James Bible’s singulars iniquity, transgression, and sin all read as plurals in the Book of Mormon text:

Mosiah 14:6 (Isaiah 53:6 reads iniquity)
- and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all
Mosiah 14:8 (Isaiah 53:8 reads transgression)
- for the transgressions of my people was he stricken
Mosiah 14:12 (Isaiah 53:12 reads sin) and he bare the sins of many
- The consistency of the plural usage in this other biblical quotation strongly supports the use of the plural iniquities in 2 Nephi 24:21.

Summary: Maintain the plural iniquities in 2 Nephi 24:21, the reading of the earliest textual source; the consistent plural usage in Mosiah 14 (which quotes Isaiah 53) shows that the replacement of singulars by plurals for words dealing with sin is most likely intentional, at least in biblical quotes.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 2

References