Enos 1:21 Textual Variants

The text has occasionally been edited to avoid singular-plural combinations such as much modifying a plural count noun. Here in Enos 1:21, an original much horses was edited to many horses in the 1837 edition. Similarly, two cases of much people have had the much edited to many, again in the 1837 edition:

• Mosiah 29:7
  • yea and destroy the souls of [mtch >jg many 1|much A|many BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] people
• Ether 8:2
  • he did flatter [much >js many 1|much A|many BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] people

For the example in Mosiah 29:7, Hyrum Smith (the scribe in 𝓟 for that passage) wrote mtch ‘much’. The 1830 typesetter crossed out mtch and supralinearly penciled in many; even so, he ended up typesetting much, with the result that for the printed editions, many showed up first in the 1837 edition.

Sometimes the much has been maintained and the plural count noun has been changed to the singular, especially when the noun can be considered noncount:

• 1 Nephi 16:35 (changed in the 1830 edition)
  • much [afflictions 01|affliction ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] hunger thirst and fatigue
• The Words of Mormon 1:16 (changed in the 1920 LDS edition)
  • much [contensions 1|contentions ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQS|contention RT] and many dissensions
• Alma 7:5 (changed in the 1852 LDS edition)
  • much [afflictions 1ABCDEGHKPS|affliction FIJLMNOQRT] and sorrow
• Helaman 3:3 (changed in the 1841 and 1852 LDS editions)
  • much [contentions 1ABCEGHKPS|contention DFIJLMNOQRT] and many dissensions

Yet in half the cases, the original “much ” has been retained, including instances of much people and much afflictions:

• 1 Nephi 18:6 much fruits and meat
• 1 Nephi 18:17 much threatenings
• Alma 2:2 much people
• Alma 7:5 so much afflictions and sorrow
• Alma 10:4 much riches
• Alma 63:6 much provisions
• Alma 63:7 much provisions

The critical text will restore all those cases where an original “much ” has been removed from the text (usually by editing).