Alma 27:20 Textual Variants

Here the 1830 typesetter accidentally replaced which with that. Joseph Smith, following the 1830 edition, changed the original which in the printer’s manuscript to that as he was editing the text for the 1837 edition. There are a number of cases like this where Joseph, in his editing for the 1837 edition, made the printer’s manuscript agree with a change that the 1830 typesetter had earlier introduced into the text. For some other examples, see the emendations of partook to partake (in 1 Nephi 8:11) and murdereth to murdered (in Alma 1:18).

Nonetheless, there was no need here in Alma 27:20 to follow the 1830 edition. Statistically, the phrase “all the things which” is more frequent in the Book of Mormon text than “all the things that” (10 to 3):

• 1 Nephi 14:30 all the things which I saw
• 2 Nephi 33:1 all the things which were taught among my people
• Mosiah 4:9 all the things which the Lord can comprehend
• Mosiah 27:35 all the things which they had seen
• Mosiah 28:11 all the things which he had kept and preserved
• Mosiah 28:20 all the things which he had kept
• Alma 18:1 all the things which they had seen
• Alma 27:20 all the things which had happened unto them
• Alma 51:35 all the things that he had done
• Alma 55:15 all the things that had happened
• Helaman 2:9 all the things which he had seen and heard and done
• Helaman 5:50 all the things which they had heard and seen
• Mormon 1:4 all the things that ye have observed

Grammatically there is nothing wrong with using which in a restrictive sense, despite the prescriptive claim to the contrary. See the first section under that in Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage.