Ether 15:16–17 Textual Variants

In each of these two verses, we have a reference to the people rending the air with their cries and howlings. The phraseology is similar except that in the earliest textual source (the printer’s manuscript) the subject pronoun in verse 16 is it. This singular pronoun it would seem to refer to their cries and howlings rather than to the people themselves. Near the end of verse 17, on the other hand, we have the plural pronoun they, which clearly refers to the people rather than to their cries and howlings. In the 1920 LDS edition, the it in verse 16 was emended to they, which made the subject pronoun here in verse 16 agree with its plural antecedent (“their cries their howlings and lamentations”) as well as with the plural they in verse 17. Such an emendation suggests that the original text could have read they in verse 16.

The 1920 LDS edition further increased the similarity between the two verses by removing the comma after the again near the end of verse 17, giving “and when the night came again they did rend the air”. Although that edition did not add a comma after came, the removal of the comma after again does suggest an ambiguity—namely, again may either end the when-clause (“and when the night came again”) or begin the following main clause (“again they did rend the air with their cries”). This latter interpretation would clearly support the change of it to they in verse 16 since now the word again would be referring to the second time the people rent the air with their cries and howlings. But by not putting a comma after came, the 1920 edition avoided making a firm decision concerning which clause the again belongs to.

When we look at the whole description of this last battle of the Jaredites, we find that again is never otherwise used to describe the coming of night or of the following day (the one unclear case, here in verse 17, is marked with an arrow):

• first day and night (Ether 15:15–16)
  • and they fought all that day and conquered not
    and it came to pass that when it was night
    they were weary and retired to their camps
    and after that they had retired to their camps they took up a howling and a lamentation
    for the loss of the slain of their people
    and so great were their cries their howlings and lamentations
    that it did rend the air exceedingly
• second day and night (Ether 15:17)
  •   and it came to pass that
      on the morrow they did go again to battle
      and great and terrible was that day nevertheless they conquered not
    → and when the night came again they did rend the air
      with their cries and their howlings and their mournings
• third day and night (Ether 15:19–20)
  • wherefore they went again to
    battle and it came to pass that they fought all that day
    and when the night came they slept upon their swords
• fourth day and night (Ether 15:21–22)
  • and on the morrow they fought even until the night came
    and when the night came they were drunken with anger
    even as a man which is drunken with wine
    and they slept again upon their swords
• fifth day and night (Ether 15:23–24)
  • and on the morrow they fought again 
    and when the night came they had all fallen by the sword
    save it were fifty and two of the people of Coriantumr
    and sixty and nine of the people of Shiz
    and it came to pass that they slept upon their swords that night
• sixth day and night (Ether 15:24–26)
  • and on the morrow they fought again 
    and they contended in their mights
    with their swords and with their shields
    all that day
    and when the night came there was thirty and two of the people of Shiz
    and twenty and seven of the people of Coriantumr
    and it came to pass that they ate and slept
    and prepared for death on the morrow

The word again occurs throughout the larger passage but with respect to the actions of the people, not the coming of day or night. Thus the passage as a whole supports the use of again in verse 17 with the following clause rather than with the preceding one, so that we get “again they did rend the air with their cries and their howlings and their mournings”. And as a consequence, we have additional support for the change to the plural pronoun they in verse 16.

On the other hand, the original text has examples where the singular pronoun it refers to a plural collective, as in Helaman 13:31: “and behold the time cometh that he curseth your riches that it becometh slippery”. Under the discussion for that passage, I list five other instances in the original text where it refers to a plural collective. Thus the original use of it here in Ether 15:16 to refer to the cries and howlings of the people is definitely possible. In fact, again can be still used later in verse 17 to refer to the cries and howlings of the people even if now the subject is the people rather than their cries and howlings. The critical text will therefore restore the original it in verse 16, but in verse 17 a comma will be added before the again, thus placing the again at the head of the main clause: “again they did rend the air with their cries and their howlings and their mournings”. It should be noted that normally in the Book of Mormon text the word again does not immediately begin a finite clause. What we typically have is a preceding and (71 times), but there are a few instances where again occurs at the beginning of a finite clause, as in this example where there is a preceding “it came to pass” clause:

• 3 Nephi 11:4
  • and it came to pass that
    again they heard the voice and they understood it not

This example shows that again can begin a finite clause. Thus here in Ether 15:17 the placement of again at the beginning of the clause (“again they did rend the air with their cries and their howlings and their mournings”) is quite possible.