Mosiah 13:12-24

Brant Gardner

Verses 12 through 24 are a restatement, with very little variation, of the Decalogue as recorded in Exodus 20:3–17. Abinadi essentially enters God’s essential commandments into the record.

Since Orson Pratt’s edition of 1879, verse 24 is followed immediately by verse 25. That was not the case in the original edition. Originally, this ended a chapter. It appears that finishing the quotation was the reason for the chapter, which was a reason that doesn’t conform to more modern ideas of chapter making, so Pratt changed it. It is, however, attested in other locations in the 1830 edition, suggesting that it was part of Mormon’s understanding of when a chapter would end.

Book of Mormon Minute

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