Omni 1:17 Textual Variants

Here in Omni 1:17, Oliver Cowdery initially wrote “they had had wars and serious contentions”. Considerably later, with heavier and darker ink flow (and with a duller quill), Oliver supralinearly inserted many before wars. Like many corrections Oliver made on pages 113 and 114 of 𝓟, the ink flow is clearly different:

• Omni 1:2 (line 16 on page 113 of 𝓟)
  • as I ought to havedone
• Omni 1:6 (line 25 on page 113 of 𝓟)
  • should not be verrified that the words ^ which he spake unto our fathers
• Omni 1:6 (line 25 on page 113 of 𝓟)
  • that which he spake unto our fathers saying ^ inasmuch as
• Omni 1:17 (line 21 on page 114 of 𝓟)
  • many they had had ^ wars & serious contentions
• Omni 1:17 (line 23 on page 114 of 𝓟)
  • & & they denied the being of their Creator ^ Mosiah nor the People
• Omni 1:23 (lines 35–36 on page 114 of 𝓟)
  • behold I Am{e|a}leki was born in the days of Mosiah
• Omni 1:23 (line 36 on page 114 of 𝓟)
  • to see his death & I have lieved ^ & Benjamin his Son

All these corrections appear to have been made while proofing 𝓟 against 𝓞. See the discussion under each case.

Elsewhere in the text, there are 30 places where war(s) and contention(s) are conjoined. And two of these have much or many modifying war(s), as in Omni 1:17:

• Omni 1:10
  • behold it came to pass that I saw much war and contention between my people
• Alma 62:44
  • for because of so many wars and contentions it had become expedient that a regulation should be made again in the church

The critical text will therefore maintain the many that Oliver Cowdery later inserted before wars in Omni 1:17.