For 11 of its 17 occurrences (including the first occurrence in Alma 43:5), the name Zerahemnah is spelled without variation. But there is a tendency to misspell the name under the influence of the very similar place-name Zarahemla. In the textual history, there are seven instances of spelling variation for the name Zerahemnah; the variants are all isolated and were never transmitted into any subsequent edition:
misspelling | location | textual sources |
Zarahemnah | Alma 43:6 | 1907 LDS |
Alma 43:20 | 1852 LDS | |
Alma 44:10 | 𝓞* | |
Alma 44:12 | 1841 British | |
Zerahemlah | Alma 44:12 | 𝓞* |
Zerahemna | Alma 44:12 | 1849 LDS |
Alma 44:16 | 1849 LDS |
Each misspelling shows in a different way the influence of Zarahemla (e to a, n to l, or loss of final h). The last misspelling, Zerahemna, occurs twice but only in the 1849 LDS edition. Zerahemnah is twice misspelled in 𝓞 but is corrected both times. The critical text will, of course, maintain the spelling Zerahemnah.
Summary: Maintain the spelling Zerahemnah in Alma 43–44; the manuscripts consistently support this spelling, despite the tendency to misspell the name under the influence of the very similar Zarahemla.