Mosiah 22:14 Textual Variants

In this verse, the 1874 RLDS edition replaced the second occurrence of the plural records with the singular record. In this passage, either occurrence of records could read in the singular. Thus there seems to be no particular motivation for the change in the RLDS text, which suggests that the singular record is simply a typo. The third RLDS edition (in 1908) restored the original plural, apparently by reference to the printer’s manuscript.

As discussed under 1 Nephi 5:21, the Book of Mormon text has considerable variation between the singular record and the plural records. Moreover, either number can be used to refer to one specific record. For instance, here in Mosiah 22:14, the second occurrence of records refers to the record of the people of Jared (that is, the 24 gold plates of Ether). The text elsewhere in the book of Mosiah uses both the singular and the plural to refer to this particular record, although most instances are in the plural:

• Mosiah 8:12
  • for I am desirous that these records should be translated into our language
• Mosiah 8:13
  • I can assuredly tell thee O king of a man that can translate the records
• Mosiah 21:27
  • and they brought a record with them even a record of the people whose bones they had found
• Mosiah 28:11
  • and after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold which had been found by the people of Limhi which was delivered to him by the hand of Limhi …
• Mosiah 28:17
  • now after Mosiah had finished translating these records behold it gave an account of the people which were destroyed

Notice in the last example how the singular pronoun it is used to refer to the plural these records. Variation in number for record(s) is clearly possible. Thus for each case of record(s), the critical text will follow the reading of the earliest textual sources in determining the number.