According to Shirley Heater, in some places words on the Printer’s Manuscript were omitted in the 1830 edition (and subsequent editions). One of these omissions (which will be marked with brackets [ ] ) is found in Alma 37:37 of the 1981 LDS edition. It reads, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do [ ] these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.” The meaning is weakened because the word “always,” (which is present in the Printer’s Manuscript) is missing. Here Alma’s instruction is that our hearts be full of thanks when lying down and when rising; his conclusion should read, “And if ye always do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.” [Shirley R. Heater, “The 1830 Edition: History and Manuscript Comparison,” in Recent Book of Mormon Developments, Vol. 2, pp. 95-96]
“Night - Morning: Merismus”
Richardson, Richardson and Bentley note that an ancient Hebrew poetic form, known as merismus (the comparing and contrasting of adjectives and nouns) has been found int he Book of Mormon. Angela Crowell notes that in the Bible we find this inclusive concept by the use of a pair of adjectives: young and aged = everybody (Job 29:8); sea and dry land = the universe (Psalms 95:5); flesh and blood = sacrificed animals (Psalms 50:13). In the Book of Mormon (Alma 37:347) we find the use of “night” and “morning” to convey the concept of “all the time.”
It is also interesting that among the Aztecs, for example, skirt and blouse signified woman in her sexual aspect, flower and song meant poetry and art, and face and heart signified personality. “My hand, my foot” meant my body, while “in the clouds, in the mist” conveyed the idea of mystery. Thus, Edmonson comments on “the extraordinary difficulty” in reading such texts. The “obvious” meaning of an expression frequently must be modified to extract its “synthetic or esoteric meaning.” Furthermore, “thee [religious] texts are purposely obscure. They are not intended to make sense to outsiders--and they don’t.” They were meant to be “read and pondered rather than skimmed over or recited.” (John L. Sorenson, Angela Crowell & Allen J. Christensen, “View of the Hebrews an Unparallel,” Re-exploring the Book of Mormon, pp. 83-87.) [Allen H. Richardson, David E. Richardson and Anthony E. Bentley, 1000 Evidences for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Part Two-A Voice from the Dust: 500 Evidences in Support of the Book of Mormon, p. 272]