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Book of Mormon Critical Text Project
Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon: Part One: 1 Nephi 1-2 Nephi 10
Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, the fourth volume in Professor Royal Skousen s ongoing Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, represents the central task of the the attempt to recover the original English-language text of the Book of Mormon. Volume 4 considers every significant textual change that has occurred in the English Book of Mormon over the 175 years since Joseph Smith first dictated it to his scribes; it also considers a number of conjectured revisions for specific passages.
Professor Skousen draws on the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, the printer s manuscript prepared by Oliver Cowdery and two other scribes, and 20 significant printed versions ranging from the 1830 edition to the current standard editions published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Where applicable, he marshals additional evidence of language usage from dialectal and earlier English, as well as data from the King James Bible and the original biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek.
Part 1 of volume 4 commences with the title page and the witness statements and then proceeds from 1 Nephi 1 through 2 Nephi 10. It thus represents approximately one-seventh of the Book of Mormon as we have it. Specifically, Professor Skousen examines 774 cases of variation or potential variation in his quest to determine the original reading of the Book of Mormon text. In 420 instances, the current standard version varies from his proposed original text, and 157 of these have never appeared in any standard printed edition of the Book of Mormon. Most of the 420 differences involve variation in phraseology, but 75 of them alter the meaning in ways that would affect translation though never in a manner that changes either doctrinal content or the fundamental meaning of the text.
Each massive volume in the critical text averages nearly 670 oversize pages of research and analysis that reward careful examination with expanded views of the founding text of Mormonism. In seeking to recover the original English-language text, this ambitious project has identified many variant readings and yielded new insights into the translation process and the systematic nature of the text. These findings will keep serious students of the Book of Mormon profitably engaged in assessing the ramifications for many years to come. As an essential scholarly tool, the critical text promises to boost the professional rigor and overall quality of Book of Mormon scholarship to a new level.
Professor Skousen draws on the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, the printer s manuscript prepared by Oliver Cowdery and two other scribes, and 20 significant printed versions ranging from the 1830 edition to the current standard editions published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Where applicable, he marshals additional evidence of language usage from dialectal and earlier English, as well as data from the King James Bible and the original biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek.
Part 1 of volume 4 commences with the title page and the witness statements and then proceeds from 1 Nephi 1 through 2 Nephi 10. It thus represents approximately one-seventh of the Book of Mormon as we have it. Specifically, Professor Skousen examines 774 cases of variation or potential variation in his quest to determine the original reading of the Book of Mormon text. In 420 instances, the current standard version varies from his proposed original text, and 157 of these have never appeared in any standard printed edition of the Book of Mormon. Most of the 420 differences involve variation in phraseology, but 75 of them alter the meaning in ways that would affect translation though never in a manner that changes either doctrinal content or the fundamental meaning of the text.
Each massive volume in the critical text averages nearly 670 oversize pages of research and analysis that reward careful examination with expanded views of the founding text of Mormonism. In seeking to recover the original English-language text, this ambitious project has identified many variant readings and yielded new insights into the translation process and the systematic nature of the text. These findings will keep serious students of the Book of Mormon profitably engaged in assessing the ramifications for many years to come. As an essential scholarly tool, the critical text promises to boost the professional rigor and overall quality of Book of Mormon scholarship to a new level.
649 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Royal Skousen
54 books3 followersRoyal Jon Skousen is a professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he is editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. He is "the leading expert on the textual history of the Book of Mormon" and the founder of the analogical modeling approach to language modeling.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 4, 2013
Wow! After years of tedious research and tracking down the known extant fragments of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon and then painstakingly comparing every word in every edition of the Book of Mormon, Royal Skousen gives us a thorough analysis of what he believes the evidence shows was the intended text of the Book of Mormon, which is not necessarily the text that is in the current edition.
This is one of the most prized books in my library.
For a great summary of the background and highlights of this and the other volumes in Skousen's critical text project, download the free PDF of one of the issues of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies available here: http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publi... (click on the "Entire Issue 2" link in the upper right for a full-color PDF).
This is one of the most prized books in my library.
For a great summary of the background and highlights of this and the other volumes in Skousen's critical text project, download the free PDF of one of the issues of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies available here: http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publi... (click on the "Entire Issue 2" link in the upper right for a full-color PDF).
February 29, 2012
Information overload! Skousen writes a full page on each Book of Mormon verse that has ever had a change, regardless of how minor. I can see how this would be valuable to researchers, but for casual reader me, this was just too much.
If Skousen had an edition that focuses on the ~50 changes I consider significant, I would buy it. But in it's present form, I returned it to the library after one day.
Example: After spending 30 minutes on 2 Nephi 10:3, I couldn't understand how the insertion of the the word "thus" drastically changed the meaning of the parenthetical phrase "for thus it behooveth our God". Skousen was adamant that it did, I just couldn't see it.
If Skousen had an edition that focuses on the ~50 changes I consider significant, I would buy it. But in it's present form, I returned it to the library after one day.
Example: After spending 30 minutes on 2 Nephi 10:3, I couldn't understand how the insertion of the the word "thus" drastically changed the meaning of the parenthetical phrase "for thus it behooveth our God". Skousen was adamant that it did, I just couldn't see it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews