Book of Mormon textual changes

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Book of Mormon textual changes

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Textual changes

Summary: The claim is often heard that there are more than 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon text. The majority of these are typographical. Few of the changes are significant. We examine the more noteworthy changes.

Why were textual changes made to the Book of Mormon?

Summary: Why have a number of textual changes been made to the Book of Mormon over the years?

"the Son of" added to 1 Nephi 11:18, 1 Nephi 11:21, 1 Nephi 11:32, and 1 Nephi 13:40

Summary: The earliest edition of the Book of Mormon referred to Jesus as "God." Joseph Smith later changed some, but not all, of these to "the Son of God." It is claimed by some that this is evidence that Joseph Smith changed the Book of Mormon to conform to his changing beliefs about the Trinity, claiming that Joseph was originally a solid Trinitarian (perhaps even a Modalist), and as he later began to teach that the Father and Son were two separate beings, he had to change the Book of Mormon to support his new doctrine.

"or out of the waters of baptism" added to 1 Nephi 20:1

Summary: The phrase "or out of the waters of baptism" was added to 1 Nephi 20:1 in the 1840 edition Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith.

"white" changed to "pure" in 2 Nephi 30:6

Summary: The phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the Book of Mormon. As a result, some accuse the Church of attempting to hide a racially offensive statement.

"Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah" in Mosiah 21:28 and Ether 4:1

Summary: In the text currently found in Mosiah 21:28 of the Book of Mormon, the 1830 edition reads "Benjamin", while all subsequent editions read "Mosiah." Likewise, a reference to Benjamin in what is now Ether 4:1 was changed to "Mosiah" in 1849.

"Words missing in Alma 32:30"

Summary: Thirty-five words at the end of Alma 32:30 in the original manuscript were omitted from previous editions of the Book of Mormon. The text was restored in the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon.