2 Nephi 31:4 Textual Variants

Here in 2 Nephi 31:4, the 1830 typesetter changed the singular sin to sins. Yet this passage is virtually identical to the language in John 1:29 (“the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world”). Thus the singular sin is appropriate here. The text underwent the same change of sin to sins earlier in 1 Nephi:

• 1 Nephi 10:10
  • and after that he had baptized the Messiah with water he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God which should take away the [sin 0|sin >+ sins 1|sins ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] of the world

In fact, these two passages are the only ones in the Book of Mormon that refer directly to John the Baptist and his declaration that Christ would take away the sin of the world—and in both cases the earliest Book of Mormon text reads sin just as in John 1:29. For further discussion, see 1 Nephi 10:10.

In accord with the reading of the printer’s manuscript, the 1908 RLDS edition restored the singular sin here in 2 Nephi 31:4, but not in 1 Nephi 10:10. Oliver Cowdery is responsible for the change to sins in 1 Nephi 10:10; in the printer’s manuscript, he added the s later with heavier ink flow. The original manuscript is extant for 1 Nephi 10:10 and it reads sin.