Moroni 7:32 Textual Variants

Here in the 1849 LDS edition, a comma was added after the Father, apparently in an attempt to help with the reading of the unusual syntax. The noun phrase the Father is the subject here, and the following noun phrase the covenants heads the direct object; here the equivalent language would be “after this manner the Father bringeth to pass the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men” except that in the Book of Mormon text the initial adverbial phrase “after this manner” has led to subject-verb inversion. Elsewhere subject-verb inversion is normal whenever a declarative clause begins with the adverbial phrase “after this manner” (22 times), as in this sampling:

• 1 Nephi 1:15 and after this manner was the language of my father
• 1 Nephi 3:21 after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren
• 1 Nephi 5:3 and after this manner of language had my mother complained
• 1 Nephi 19:24 for after this manner hath the prophet written
• 2 Nephi 31:3 for after this manner doth the Lord God work
• Enos 1:23 and after this manner do I write concerning them
• Alma 51:32 and after this manner were they driven
• 3 Nephi 11:27 and after this manner shall ye baptize in my name

However, for all 22 of these examples the inversion occurs with either an auxiliary verb or the main verb be (once, in 1 Nephi 1:15). On the other hand, in a couple of cases inversion is avoided:

• Omni 1:9 and after this manner we keep the record
• Mosiah 18:16 and after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth

Note that the first of these lacks an auxiliary verb. In any event, the use of inversion is possible in Moroni 7:32; what is unusual is that the inversion occurs with the full verb phrase “bringeth to pass” (which lacks an auxiliary verb). In order to make sure that the inversion is correctly read, the critical text will remove the comma that separates the subject the Father from the following direct object (which is headed by the noun phrase the covenants).