The printer’s manuscript has the plural “according to the words of Christ”, whereas the 1830 edition has the singular “according to the word of Christ”. In theory, either is possible. We get a second case of this variation, words in 𝓟 but word in the 1830 edition, later in this part of the text where both 𝓟 and the 1830 edition are firsthand copies of 𝓞:
When Joseph Smith edited this later passage for the 1837 edition, he emended the plural words in 𝓟 to the singular word, thus making 𝓟 agree with the 1830 reading. But we note that later in that verse, the plural “according to the words of Ammaron” occurs in both 𝓟 and the 1830 edition, suggesting that the earlier 1830 reading word is an error for words.
Similarly, we can find support elsewhere for “according to the words of Christ” (but not for the singular “according to the word of Christ”):
These three examples argue that the correct text in 3 Nephi 29:7 should be the plural reading in 𝓟. More generally, however, the text has examples of both “the word of Christ” (5 times) and “the words of Christ” (11 times); these frequencies exclude the case here in 3 Nephi 29:7. For discussion of one other case of variation, see under Alma 37:45.
Elsewhere in the text, we always get the plural “according to the words of X” whenever X refers to a human (usually X is a personal name):
| X | the word of X | the words of X |
| Alma | — | 1 |
| Ammon | — | 1 |
| Jeremiah | — | 1 |
| Lachoneus | — | 1 |
| X | the word of X | the words of X |
| Nephi | — | 2 |
| Neum | — | 1 |
| Zenoch | — | 1 |
| Zenos | — | 1 |
| the prophet Ze nos | — | 1 |
| the prophet | — | 3 |
These examples support the plural words in Mormon 2:17 for both instances of “according to the words of Ammaron”. On the other hand, when referring to deity or angels, the singular is not only possible but is sometimes definitely preferred:
| X | the word of X | the words of X |
| Christ | — | 3 |
| the angel | 2 | 3 |
| the Lord | 4 | 1 |
| God | 6 | — |
| Jesus | 1 | — |
But when the noun is Christ, as already noted, the plural “according to the words of Christ” is otherwise preferred (here I exclude the case of 3 Nephi 29:7 from the above statistics).
When we turn to evidence from errors in transmission, we find that there is one clear instance where the 1830 typesetter replaced the plural words with the singular word:
On the other hand, there is also one clear instance where scribe 2 of 𝓟 accidentally replaced word with words:
In this case, Oliver Cowdery corrected this error of scribe 2’s when he proofed 𝓟 against 𝓞; Oliver’s corrected reading in 𝓟 agrees with the 1830 reading, thus arguing that here 𝓞 read in the singular as “with the word of God”. So transmission errors can be used to support either reading, word or words, as the original in 3 Nephi 29:7. As explained under 3 Nephi 1:16, the best solution here in 3 Nephi 29:7 is to follow the consistent reading since the evidence from transmission errors is indecisive. Thus the critical text will restore “according to the words of Christ” in 3 Nephi 29:7, the reading in 𝓟. The 1830 typesetter accidentally replaced words with word, just as he apparently did once more (in Mormon 2:17).
Summary: Restore the plural words of the printer’s manuscript in both 3 Nephi 29:7 and Mormon 2:17; textual consistency argues for the plural words in the phrases “according to the words of Christ” and “according to the words of Ammaron”; in each of these cases, the 1830 singular word is apparently a typo.