Mosiah 5:10 Textual Variants

Here in Mosiah 5:10 the printer’s manuscript reads them; the original manuscript is not extant. There is considerable evidence that Oliver Cowdery sometimes had difficulty distinguishing between them and him (pronounced identically as /ßm/ in unstressed contexts) as he took down Joseph Smith’s dictation. For some examples and discussion, see under 1 Nephi 10:18–19. So if them is an error here in Mosiah 5:10, it probably occurred as Oliver wrote the text down in the original manuscript.

The editors for the 1920 LDS edition emended the them here in Mosiah 5:10 to him. This change seems wholly appropriate given the exclusive use of the third person singular pronoun elsewhere in this passage:

• Mosiah 5:9–10 (the earliest text)
  • and it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God for he shall know the name by which he is called for he shall be called by the name of Christ and now it shall come to pass that whosoever shall not take upon them the name of Christ must be called by some other name therefore he findeth himself on the left hand of God

Thus consistency would argue here that the them is an error for him.

Nonetheless, in the discussion under 1 Nephi 17:48, it is pointed out that there is also considerable evidence of switching between singular and plural generic pronouns in the Book of Mormon text, as in the following examples from the original text which do not involve the pronoun forms him and them:

• Alma 12:34–35
  • therefore whosoever repenteth and hardeneth not his heart he shall have claim on mercy through mine only begotten Son unto a remission of their sins and these shall enter into my rest and whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity behold I swear in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest
• Alma 36:3
  • for I do know that whomsoever shall put his trust in God shall be supported in their trials and their troubles and their afflictions

The example from Alma 12:34–35 is particularly significant since it switches from the singular to the plural and then back to the singular, just like the earliest text in Mosiah 5:9–10. It should also be noted that in Mosiah 5:9–10 there is never any switch in the generic number within a given sentence (although this does not hold for the two Alma passages). The critical text will restore the earliest text in Mosiah 5:10 even though there is a distinct possibility that the them is a mishearing for him.