3 Nephi 9:8 Textual Variants

In 3 Nephi 9:6–10, the original text appears to have systematically had the preposition of between the city and the name of the city (12 times). In verse 7, the of is missing in the 1830 edition for the city Onihah, but not in the printer’s manuscript. This of was restored to the LDS text in the 1849 LDS edition, perhaps intentionally (Orson Pratt, the editor for that edition, may have noticed the systematic use of “the city of X” throughout this passage). The 1908 RLDS edition restored the of to the RLDS text (most likely by reference to 𝓟).

Oliver Cowdery never added the of to the expression “the city X”, nor to the parallel expression “the land Y”. But he did tend to omit the of from “the city of X” and “the land of Y”, usually momentarily; most examples occurred in 𝓟, but there was one in 𝓞 (marked below with an asterisk):

• Alma 27:23 (also omitted in the 1830 edition)
  • the land [of 0|NULL > of 1| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Jershon
• * Alma 31:3
  • the land [NULL > of 0|of 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Zarahemla
• Alma 53:2
  • the city [of 0ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|NULL >+ of 1] Mulek
• Alma 56:14
  • the city [of 0ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST|NULL > of 1] Zeezrom
• Alma 62:30
  • the city [NULL > of 1|of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Nephihah
• Helaman 1:22 (also omitted in the 1841 British edition and in three early 20th-century LDS editions)
  • the city [of 0ABCEGHIJKNOPRST|NULL > of 1| DLMQ|of of F] Zarahemla
• Helaman 5:15
• the city [NULL >+ of 1|of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Mulek

There is one case where the of appears to have been lost in copying from 𝓞 into 𝓟; for discussion of that case (involving “the land of Bountiful”), see under Alma 50:32.

The 1830 typesetter, on the other hand, tended to both add and delete the of; although there are no examples involving “the city (of) X”, there are four that involve “the land (of) Y”:

• 1 Nephi 17:7 (added in the 1830 edition)
  • the land [ 01|of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Bountiful
• Alma 27:23 (omitted in the 1830 edition, also initially in 𝓟)
  • the land [of 0|NULL > of 1| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Jershon
• Alma 31:3 (added in the 1830 edition)
  • the land [ 01|of ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Jershon
• Alma 52:15 (omitted in the 1830 edition)
  • the land [of 01| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] Bountiful

(Also see under Mormon 4:1 for an instance where the 1830 typesetter may have omitted the of from “the land of Desolation”.) These early errors show that it is more likely that the 1830 typesetter is responsible for the variation here in 3 Nephi 9:7. The critical text will therefore maintain the of here in 3 Nephi 9:7.

In verse 8, the of was accidentally dropped in the 1840 edition for “the city of Gimgimno”. This shorter reading has continued in the RLDS textual tradition. The typesetter for the 1840 edition also omitted the of from “the city of Zarahemla” in Alma 61:8. In addition, he twice added the of, once to “the city Nephi” (Alma 47:31) and once to “the city Gid” (Alma 55:16). For discussion, see under each of these passages. Thus the 1840 typesetter tended to both add and drop the of from “the city (of ) X”. Here in 3 Nephi 9:8, the critical text will, of course, maintain the of in “the city of Gimgimno”, the reading of both 𝓟 and the 1830 edition.