Alma 22:30 Textual Variants

The 1837 edition deleted the repeated perfect auxiliary had here in Alma 22:30. This change was not marked by Joseph Smith in his editing of the printer’s manuscript for the 1837 edition. Since in this instance the repeated had is awkward for English speakers (it is very close to the preceding had ), the 1837 typesetter may have just accidentally dropped the word. The critical text will restore the repeated had here in Alma 22:30.

Elsewhere in the text there are at least 35 other occurrences of the repeated had, as in the following sampling of similarly awkward instances involving only one or two words between the initial had and the following and had:

• 1 Nephi 4:28 that he had slain me and had sought to take away their lives also
• Alma 8:13 when the people had said this and had withstood all his words
• Alma 19:34 that they had seen angels and had conversed with them
• Alma 51:29 who had slain Morionton and had headed his people
• Alma 59:1 after Moroni had received and had read Helaman’s epistle
• Helaman 13:33 O that I had repented and had not killed the prophets

In two cases, other editions have accidentally omitted the repeated had: Alma 8:13 in the 1849 British edition and Alma 52:12 in the 1840 edition (see under each for discussion). But there have been only these idiosyncratic losses of the repeated had, as here in the 1837 edition for Alma 22:30. For a general discussion of the conjunctive repetition of the perfect auxiliary, see under the Words of Mormon 1:15.