“There Were Some Who Died with Fevers”

Brant Gardner

Variant: Verse 40 was edited in 1837, during the Prophet’s lifetime, to clarify the wording in the 1830 edition, which reads: “And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year, was [sic] very frequent in the land; but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared, to remove the cause of diseases which was subsequent to man, by the nature of the climate.”

Since 1841, the italicized wording reads: “And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate.” The intent is the same in both versions, but the meaning is clearer in the modern version. The change was first made in the 1837 edition where it became “to which men was subject” (also in the 1841 edition, printed in Liverpool, England—which did not have the benefits of the changes from the 1840 edition). The 1840 (printed in Nauvoo, Illinois), 1852, and subsequent editions have corrected the grammar: “to which men were subject.…”

Text: There is no chapter break in the 1830 edition.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4

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