Alma 5:1 Textual Variants

Now it came to pass that Alma began to [declair 1|deliver ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] the word of God unto the people

Here the 1830 typesetter accidentally misread declare (spelled as declair) as deliver. His error was probably due to the use of the verb deliver in the immediately preceding preface to this chapter:

Alma 5 preface
- The words which Alma the high priest according to the holy order of God delivered to the people in their cities and villages throughout the land

Elsewhere in the text, we have “declare the word (of God)” 28 times, as nearby in Alma 6:8: “and Alma went and began to declare the word of God”. There is only one occurrence of “deliver the word (of God)” in the original text:

Mosiah 25:21
- and every priest preaching the word according as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma

For another passage where declare was twice replaced by deliver (but only in 𝓟), see 3 Nephi 21:2. Neither the LDS or RLDS editions have restored the original reading in Alma 5:1.

Summary: Restore “declare the word of God” in Alma 5:1, the reading of the printer’s manuscript; this reading is consistent with other usage in the text.

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

References