Mosiah 18:16 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
and after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon and they were in number about two hundred and four souls [NULL >+ yea 1|yea ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOQRT|Yea PS] and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon and were filled with the grace of God

Oliver Cowdery initially wrote the text without the yea, but then later (with somewhat heavier ink flow) he supralinearly inserted the yea, perhaps when he proofed 𝓟 against 𝓞. The word yea is typically used to elaborate upon a subject that has already been referred to. In this example, the baptism of Alma’s converts has just been mentioned; the following clause describes where they were baptized and explains that after their baptism they were filled with the grace of God (presumably a reference to the Holy Spirit). There would not have been any particular motivation for Oliver to have independently supplied the yea here.

Summary: Retain in Mosiah 18:16 Oliver Cowdery’s inserted yea, the probable reading of 𝓞.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 3

References