Alma 13:5 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
thus this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son [which >js who 1|which A|who BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] was prepared

In his editing for the 1837 edition, Joseph Smith interpreted the relative pronoun which here in Alma 13:5 as referring to the Only Begotten Son rather than to the preceding the atonement. There is one similar instance where Joseph interpreted the relative pronoun which as referring to Christ rather than to the plan of redemption:

Yet quite a few passages elsewhere in the text refer to the atonement or the plan of redemption as being prepared from the beginning:

There is one passage, however, where Christ clearly refers to himself as being prepared to redeem the world:

Thus either interpretation is possible in Mosiah 18:13 and Alma 13:5. My own inclination, however, is that the original which in both Mosiah 18:13 and Alma 13:5 refers to the plan itself. Of course, the critical text will restore the original which in both passages, thus allowing us to avoid deciding in these two cases the antecedent for the which. For further discussion, see under which in volume 3.

Summary: Restore the relative pronoun which in Alma 13:5 as well as in Mosiah 18:13; although the which may refer to Christ, there is also the possibility that it refers to the atonement itself.

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

References