Alma 24:18–19 Textual Variants

In this passage there are four occurrences of “rather than to” that Joseph Smith changed to “rather than” in his editing for the 1837 edition. But this passage was apparently the only place where Joseph did this kind of editing. In three other places he left the expression “rather than to”:

• Alma 13:10
  • they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish
• Alma 26:32
  • for behold they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy
• Alma 51:20
  • and the remainder of those dissenters rather than [to 01ABCDEPS| FGHIJKLMNOQRT] be smote down to the earth by the sword yielded to the standard of liberty

In the first example (Alma 13:10), the infinitival to is supported by the preceding parallel use of to in “they choosing to repent and work righteousness”. In the two other examples, there is no parallel support for the infinitival to. Interestingly, in the third case, the 1852 LDS edition dropped the to, in accord with current English usage (although this change may have actually been unintentional rather than due to conscious editing). It should also be noted that in the printer’s manuscript for the Alma 51:20 example, Oliver Cowdery initially skipped the to by first writing the b of be (see the middle line in the following manuscript citation); Oliver immediately corrected what he had started by overwriting the b with a t and then continuing inline with the o:

• Alma 51:19–20 (lines 2–4, page 299 of 𝓟)
  • into prison for there was no time for their trials at this period & the rema
    -inder of those dissenters rather than {b|to} be smote down to the earth by the sword yielded to the standard of liberty & were compelled to hoist the title of

This scribal error shows that “rather than to” was the reading in the text yet did not represent Oliver’s language (since he seems to have preferred “rather than be smote down”). The critical text will, of course, restore all of these deleted to’s in Alma 24:18–19 and Alma 51:20.

As might be expected, there is evidence for “rather than to” in Middle and Early Modern English, including these examples (with spelling regularized) from the online Oxford English Dictionary:

• Robert of Gloucester (1297)
  • Rather than to lose her land, her life there to lose.
• The Beauty and Good Properties of Women (about 1536)
  • Rather than to be made in nature’s forge an angel thou wouldest judge him, I make avow.
• Nicolas Udall and others (1549)
  • Getting their living with their own hands, rather than to be grievous unto other with shameless cravings and unseemliness.

(I wish to thank Don Chapman for help in determining the substantives for these citations.) There is also this example from the King James Bible:

• Psalm 52:3
  • thou lovest evil more than good and lying rather than to speak righteousness

The use of “rather than to” in the original Book of Mormon text is clearly intended and will be followed in the critical text wherever it is supported by the earliest textual sources.