4 Nephi 1:47 Textual Variants

This is the first occurrence of the name Ammoron /Ammaron that refers to the prophet who kept the Nephite record just before Mormon. This name occurs ten times in the text. In the 1830 edition, set from the original manuscript, the name is always spelled Ammaron, while in the printer’s manuscript (also deriving from the original manuscript), scribe 2 spells this name consistently as Ammoron, although here in the first case scribe 2’s first o almost looks like an a. This variability involving scribe 2’s o /a for the first occurrence of the name in 𝓟 suggests that the a spelling could be correct.

There is considerable evidence that in the printer’s manuscript scribe 2 frequently wrote actual a’s as o’s. Consider these examples from his copywork in 𝓟:

And the opposite occurs, although not as frequently:

So there is a possibility that scribe 2 intended to write Ammaron when he wrote the name as Ammoron for the first time (in 4 Nephi 1:47).

Elsewhere in the text, scribes as well as the 1830 typesetter had occasional difficulty spelling a and o for numerous names and nouns specific to the Book of Mormon:

All these examples show that Oliver Cowdery, scribe 2 of 𝓟, and the 1830 typesetter mixed up a and o, especially in unknown names and words. Sometimes an o replaces a correct a; sometimes the opposite occurs. In fact, examples can be found in both directions for each one of these three individuals.

Related to this problem is the spelling of three other names in the Book of Mormon. The spelling for each of these names is very close to the 1830 spelling Ammaron here in 4 Nephi 1:47 (and one is identical to Ammoron, the spelling in 𝓟):

• Amaron (second record keeper in the book of Omni)
  • 2 occurrences (Omni 1:3–4)
    spelled consistently as Amaron in 𝓟 and 1830 (𝓞 not extant)
• Ammoron (Amalickiah’s brother)
  • 24 occurrences (from Alma 52:3 through Helaman 1:16)
    spelled consistently with the o vowel and with two m’s in both manuscripts except for the following two initial errors in 𝓞:
    • 4th occurrence (Alma 54:1)
      [Amamoron >+ Amoron 0|Ammoron 1A]
    • 12th occurrence (Alma 55:1)
      [Amoron > Ammoron 0|Ammoron 1A]
• Amoron (Nephite general)
  • 1 occurrence (Moroni 9:7)
    spelled consistently as Amoron in 𝓟 and 1830 (𝓞 not extant)

So for each of these three additional names the scribal evidence supports a distinct spelling (Amaron, Ammoron, and Amoron). Thus the question is whether the spelling for the name of the prophet immediately preceding Mormon is the same as the Nephite dissenter Ammoron or whether that name takes on a distinct, fourth spelling. In fact, the relationship of m versus mm between Amoron and Ammoron argues that Amaron might have a parallel name differing by only m versus mm—that is, Ammaron.

One could interpret Ammoron /Ammaron as a compound name derived from (or related to) the name Moron (also note Moroni and Moronihah). If so, one could then argue for an o vowel in Ammoron (as Am +moron). But this argument seems somewhat tangential since we also have the distinct names Amaron and Amoron, yet we would not want to argue that Amaron is an error for Amoron simply because of the name Moron.

Ultimately, it is hard to decide between Ammoron and Ammaron for the spelling of the name of the prophet in 4 Nephi and Mormon. But since scribe 2 of 𝓟 seems to have mixed up the a and o for common words as well as for the first spelling of the name Ammoron /Ammaron here in 4 Nephi 1:47, the more probable spelling for this prophet’s name is the spelling found in the 1830 edition (namely, Ammaron).