Alma 14:27 Textual Variants

Here Oliver Cowdery initially omitted the conjunct and priests in 𝓟. Virtually immediately he supralinearly inserted the phrase, with the and written as an ampersand (there is no change in the level of ink flow). Parallel references to lawyers, judges, and teachers earlier in this chapter show that and priests is optional:

• Alma 14:18
  • there came many lawyers and judges and priests and teachers which were of the profession of Nehor
• Alma 14:23
  • the chief judge over the land of Ammonihah and many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the prison where Alma and Amulek was bound with cords

There would have been no strong motivation in verse 27 for Oliver to have emended the text by adding and priests. Notice that he did not make that change in verse 23, which lacks and priests. The critical text will accept the corrected reading in 𝓟 for Alma 14:27.