Here the 1830 edition and the printer’s manuscript disagree. 𝓟 has a multiple negative (“not find no fault”), while the 1830 edition lacks the no (“not find fault”). We therefore have two possibilities for the reading in 𝓞: if 𝓞 read “not find no fault”, then the 1830 compositor must have removed the multiple negative when he set the 1830 text from 𝓞; but if 𝓞 read “not find fault”, then Oliver Cowdery must have added the multiple negative when he copied the text from 𝓞 into 𝓟. We have to consider both these cases since there is clear evidence that the earliest text had instances of multiple negation; see, for instance, the discussion under 2 Nephi 26:32 as well as the more general one under negation in volume 3.
When we consider Oliver Cowdery’s manuscript practice, we find that there is one clear case where he created a multiple negative in 𝓟, but this only momentarily; in that instance, Oliver accidentally added a not which he then crossed out almost immediately:
𝓞 is not extant here, but spacing between extant fragments argues that there wasn’t any not in 𝓞 unless it was supralinearly inserted.
On the other hand, we have two clear cases where the 1830 compositor, John Gilbert, removed a multiple negative; in each case, he omitted a not:
In the second instance, spacing between extant fragments of 𝓞 argues that there was a not in 𝓞.
Thus we have clear evidence that the 1830 compositor sometimes eliminated multiple negatives when he set the type. On the other hand, there is no firm evidence that Oliver Cowdery ever permanently
introduced a multiple negative into the text. Consequently, here in Helaman 13:28 it is more likely that the 1830 compositor omitted the no from an original “not find no fault”
(instead of Oliver accidentally adding no to an original “not find fault”).
There is one other factor that provides some support, although minor, for the occurrence of no before fault as part of the original reading. Elsewhere in the scriptures, when the word fault is negated, the negative word is the quantifier no, the negative preposition without, or a conjunctive nor or or coming right before the noun fault rather than a not occurring with the verb. There is one other occurrence in the Book of Mormon of fault occurring in a negative context, and this occurrence reads no fault:
In other words, we do not get “we do not know any fault” (or “we do not know no fault”). In the King James Bible, the same usage consistently occurs (but without any possibility of multiple negation):
There is one other case in this part of the text where the 1830 compositor seems to have removed a multiple negative:
As in Helaman 13:27, both 𝓟 and the 1830 edition are firsthand copies of 𝓞 in 3 Nephi 17:17. The critical text will assume that the 1830 compositor was responsible once more for removing a multiple negative. For discussion, see under 3 Nephi 17:17.
Summary: Restore in Helaman 13:28 the reading of 𝓟 with its multiple negative: “and then ye will not find no fault with him”; the original text has a number of cases of multiple negation; in this instance, the 1830 compositor removed the multiple negative by deleting the no; usage elsewhere in the Book of Mormon and the King James Bible argues that the occurrence of no before fault is expected.