According to Barbara Fowler, to most English-speaking people, the use of a double negative, such as, "You cannot have no candy," grates against the ears. To the English culture "two negatives equal a positive." However, according to the Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar it is stated that "two negatives in the same sentence do not neutralize each other but make the negation the more emphatic" (Kautach 1909:483).
In the process of critically analyzing the textual changes made from what was originally written in the Original and Printer's Manuscripts of the Book of Mormon we found several instances where a negative word had been deleted or changed to a positive word. Its restoration would result in the offensive grammatical occurrence we call the double negative. One such instance is found in 4th Nephi. The book of 4th Nephi paints a glorious picture of what life was like when people all lived together with the love of God and each other in their hearts:
"And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
And there were no envyings
nor strifes
nor tumults
nor whoredoms
nor lyings
nor murders
nor [no] manner of lasciviousness:
And surely there could not be a happier people among all the people which had been created by the hand of God.
There were
no robbers
nor [no] murderers
Neither were there Lamanites
nor [no] manner of ites." (4 Nephi 1:16-17)
[Barbara Fowler, "Double Negatives in the Book of Mormon? Yes! Yes!," in Recent Book of Mormon Developments, Vol. 2, pp. 57-58]