Mormon 9:8 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ yea [they >js he 1|they A|he BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] [have 1A|has BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] not read the scriptures if so / [they >js he 1|they A|he BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] [do 1A|does BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] not understand them

Here in Mormon 9:8 the text has been edited so that the initial he is consistently used throughout the passage. Joseph Smith, in his editing for the 1837 edition, twice changed they to he; the associated verbs were also changed in the 1837 edition to the third person singular, from have to has and do to does.

As explained under 1 Nephi 10:18–19, such switching in number for generic pronouns does occur in the original text. For another example like this one involving more than one pronoun, see under Alma 12:10–11. The critical text will restore the original plural usage to the second and third main clauses here in Mormon 9:8.

Summary: Restore in Mormon 9:8 the original reading with the generic plural forms they have and they do, even though the first main clause uses the generic singular he.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 6

References