Mosiah 3:11 Textual Variants

Here Oliver Cowdery originally wrote an ampersand in the printer’s manuscript; then somewhat later he edited this and to or, probably while proofing against the original manuscript. The ink flow for the supralinearly inserted or is heavier, which argues that the change was not immediate.

The use of and implies that there is only one condition here, with the result that not knowing the will of God leads to sinning ignorantly (this is a possible interpretation). Actually, the use of or could also imply the same meaning for both relative clause conjuncts since in the Book of Mormon the conjunction or is frequently used to correct or explain the preceding text. On the other hand, the conjunction or may introduce an alternative condition. One could interpret this passage as first referring to those who never knew the will of God at all and second to those who knew something of right and wrong but who never received any specific commandments from the Lord, so they “ignorantly sinned”.

Either conjunction (and, or) seems acceptable; since there appears to be no motivation for replacing one with the other, the corrected reading in 𝓟 is probably just a correction based on 𝓞 (no longer extant here). There are a number of other passages where relative clauses are conjoined with an or (here cited according to the original text):

• Mosiah 4:7
  • I say that this is the man that receiveth salvation through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind which ever was—ever since the fall of Adam— or which is or which ever shall be even unto the end of the world
• Mosiah 4:14
  • the devil which is the master of sin or which is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers
• Mosiah 13:12
  • thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of things which is in heaven above or which is in the earth beneath or which is in the water under the earth
• Alma 1:30
  • they did not send away any which was naked or that was hungry or that was athirst or that was sick or that had not been nourished
• Alma 5:30
  • is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother or that heapeth upon him persecutions
• Alma 24:29
  • now among those which joined the people of the Lord there were none which were Amlicites or Amulonites or which were after the order of Nehor but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel
• Alma 40:16
  • and behold again it hath been spoken that there is a first resurrection a resurrection of all those which have been or which are or which shall be down to the resurrection of Christ from the dead
• 3 Nephi 17:7
  • have ye any that are lame or blind or halt or maimed or leprous or that are withered or that are deaf or that are afflicted in any manner

Note that the first two examples listed above are a part of king Benjamin’s address; thus the occurrence of or who earlier in Mosiah 3:11 is consistent with this usage.