Here in verse 9 we see some difficulty in determining the number for the word doctrine. We have similar variability in the number for doctrine in two other nearby verses:
In all three cases, there is a nearly immediate correction in the number of doctrine in the printer’s manuscript. In two cases (verses 9 and 15), Oliver Cowdery initially wrote the singular doctrine, then inserted inline the plural s using the same ink flow as the surrounding text, which implies that these two corrections were virtually immediate. In verse 12, Oliver initially wrote doctrints, then erased the ts and by accident the preceding n. He then overwrote the ts with es but finally crossed out the final s, with considerable ink smearing. So this correction was also virtually immediate.
The first example (in verse 9) has also undergone variation in the printed editions: the 1849 LDS edition replaced the plural doctrines with doctrine. The first printing of the subsequent LDS edition (1852) continued with the singular, but the second printing of that edition restored the plural, probably by reference to the 1840 edition.
The problematic reading is the singular doctrine in verse 12. When we consider all other instances of the word doctrine in the Book of Mormon text, we find that the plural doctrines is always used to refer to false doctrines. Besides the two cases in verses 9 and 15 of this chapter, we have two other examples:
Note further that incorrect doctrines are always identified as being “false doctrines” (including the one in verse 9 that refers to “false and vain and foolish doctrines”). On the other hand, if we exclude the one case of doctrine in 2 Nephi 28:12, the singular doctrine is always used to refer to true doctrine (24 times):
So except for 2 Nephi 28:12, we have a clear demarcation between the true doctrine of the Lord and the false doctrines of others. This distinction strongly suggests that the current singular reading in 2 Nephi 28:12 is probably an error.
We should also note that the King James Bible uses the plural doctrines when speaking negatively of incorrect doctrines:
But in the Bible the singular can be used for either true or false doctrine:
So the biblical text would permit an example like “false doctrine” in 2 Nephi 28:12.
The three nearly immediate corrections here in 2 Nephi 28 imply that Oliver was correcting to the original manuscript rather than editing, which would mean that 𝓞 probably read identically to the corrected readings in 𝓟:
|
original manuscript (conjectured) |
printer’s manuscript | |
| verse 9 | doctrines | doctrine > doctrines |
| verse 12 | doctrine | doctrines > doctrine |
| verse 15 | doctrines | doctrine > doctrines |
Unfortunately, the original manuscript is not extant for 2 Nephi 28. But the examples in 𝓟 for verses 9 and 15 suggest that Oliver Cowdery definitely had a problem with the plural doctrines: he tended to write the singular. On the other hand, of the 24 examples of the singular doctrine (all referring to true doctrine), Oliver never once accidentally wrote doctrines and then had to remove the extra s. This difference in error tendency suggests that for the example in verse 12, Oliver accidentally wrote the singular in 𝓞 instead of the correct plural. Then when he copied this part of the text into 𝓟, in verse 9 he initially wrote doctrine (his natural tendency), then corrected it to doctrines. When he came to verse 12, he was prepared to write the plural, which he did, but then he discovered that his copy read in the singular, so he had to correct the manuscript once more. Finally, when he got to verse 15, he again initially wrote the singular (his natural tendency) but discovered once more that 𝓞 read in the plural.
It seems pretty clear from the examples elsewhere in the Book of Mormon text that 2 Nephi 28:12 should read “because of false teachers and false doctrines”, especially since each teacher would tend to teach a different doctrine. The original manuscript probably read in the singular for this one case, but this could have been an early error on Oliver Cowdery’s part.
Summary: Emend 2 Nephi 28:12 to read in the plural: “because of false teachers and false doctrines”; elsewhere the Book of Mormon text consistently uses the plural doctrines to refer to false doctrine (as in 2 Nephi 28:9, 15) and the singular doctrine to refer to true doctrine.