3 Nephi 3:1 Textual Variants

The epistle in 3 Nephi 3:2–10 is from a single person, Giddianhi, so the 1830 reading in the plural, “the leaders and the governor of this band of robbers”, is very likely an error. The 1837 edition restored the singular reading. The use of the singular leader is confirmed in 3 Nephi 4:17, where the text refers (at the death of Giddianhi) to the choosing of a new leader for the band of robbers:

• 3 Nephi 4:17
  • now they had appointed unto themselves another leader whose name was Zemnarihah

Further, in conjuncts like the one here in 3 Nephi 3:1, the singular leader is always conjoined with a singular noun, but the plural leaders is always conjoined with a plural noun:

conjuncts of singulars

• Alma 43:44 their chief leader and commander
• Alma 47:6 a king and a leader
• Alma 47:19 their leader and their chief commander
• Mormon 3:11 a commander and a leader of this people

conjuncts of plurals

• Jarom 1:7 our kings and our leaders
• Alma 2:14 rulers and leaders
• Alma 43:44 their chief captains and leaders
• Helaman 11:8 their chief judges and their leaders
• 3 Nephi 7:14 their chiefs and their leaders
• Mormon 8:28 leaders of churches and teachers

Thus all the internal evidence indicates that in 3 Nephi 3:1 the original text read “the leader and the governor of this band of robbers”. And we also know that in the history of the text, there has been a strong tendency to add the plural s as well as to drop it, so it is quite possible here in 3 Nephi 3:1 that the 1830 compositor accidentally set the plural leaders. Another example of such a typo, one that is obviously wrong, was made by the compositor for the 1841 British edition:

• Alma 46:3
  • now the [leader 01ABCEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|leaders D] of those which were wroth against their brethren was a large and a strong man and his name was Amalickiah