Mosiah 4:7 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
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 >js were 1|was A|were BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] ever since the fall of Adam or which [is >js are 1|is A|are BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] or which ever shall be even unto the end of the world

The noun mankind is consistently treated as a plural in the current text of the Book of Mormon, but in two passages the subject noun mankind took singular verb forms in the original text, twice here in Mosiah 4:7 and once in 1 Nephi 10:6: “wherefore all mankind was in a lost and in a fallen state”. In all three cases, Joseph Smith edited the singular be verb to the appropriate plural form, either were or are (see the discussion under 1 Nephi 10:6). All other instances of mankind take plural verb forms:

The critical text will restore the three instances where the word mankind originally took a singular verb form. For further discussion, see under subject-verb agreement in volume 3.

Summary: Restore in Mosiah 4:7 the two cases where mankind originally took singular forms of the verb be (“which ever was ... or which is or which ever shall be”).

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 2

References