Mormon 8:37 Textual Variants

Here 𝓟 lacks the repeated the before needy (“the poor and needy”), while the 1830 edition has the the (“the poor and the needy”). Most probably, the the was in the original manuscript and scribe 2 of 𝓟 accidentally dropped it while copying from 𝓞 into 𝓟. Note that the the is repeated in the following “the sick and the afflicted”. (For discussion of the repeated the in the phrase “the sick and (the) afflicted”, see under Alma 34:28.)

As far as conjuncts of poor and needy are concerned, all other cases have the repeated the:

• Alma 1:27
  • and they did impart of their substance every man according to that which he had to the poor and the needy and the sick and the afflicted
• Alma 4:13
  • such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy
• Alma 5:55
  • yea and will you persist in turning your backs upon the poor and the needy

In addition, close by in Mormon 8:39 we have another long series of conjuncts involving needy; each noun in this conjunctive phrase has the determiner the:

• Mormon 8:39
  • why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life and yet suffer the hungry and the needy and the naked and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you and notice them not

These examples argue that the original text in Mormon 8:37 probably read “the poor and the needy”. The overall tendency in the history of the text has been to omit the repeated the in conjunctive noun phrases, as explained in detail under conjunctive repetition in volume 3. The critical text will assume that scribe 2 of 𝓟 accidentally omitted the repeated the here in Mormon 8:37. As explained under 3 Nephi 24:13, there are other examples where he omitted the definite article the.