2 Nephi 12:21 Textual Variants

Isaiah 2:21 (King James Bible)to go into the clefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the LORDand for the glory of his majesty

Here in 2 Nephi 12:21, the Book of Mormon text has a change in word order: namely, “the majesty of his glory” instead of “the glory of his majesty”, the reading for Isaiah in the King James Bible. One wonders here if perhaps there hasn’t been an accidental shift in the word order, especially when we compare the differences here in verse 21 with two previous occurrences of the same language in verses 10 and 19:

In each case, there are three specific differences between all three versions: (1) the definite article the precedes fear in the Book of Mormon version, (2) the repeated preposition for is omitted in the Book of Mormon version, and (3) the predicate “shall smite someone” occurs at the end of the Book of Mormon version. But some differences are not systematic: besides the problem with the word order switch in verse 21, the additional predicate “shall come upon them”, found in verses 19 and 21, does not occur in verse 10. Of course, verse 10 is further away, while verses 19 and 21 are very close to each other, which may explain why verse 10 is less similar.

Finally, we have evidence that Oliver Cowdery occasionally switched the order of associated nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs in his transmission of the text (including two which may have been influenced by biblical language):

• 1 Nephi 17:41 (see Isaiah 14:29, “fiery flying serpent”)
  • “flying fiery” (𝓞) > “fiery flying” (𝓟)
    • he sent [flying firey 0|firey flying 1|firy-flying A| fiery-flying BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQS|fiery flying RT] serpents among them
• 1 Nephi 20:6
  • “heard and seen” (𝓞) > “seen and heard” (𝓟)
    • thou hast [heard & seen 0|seen & heard 1| seen and heard ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] all this
• Mosiah 2:31
  • “unto you by him” (original text) > “unto him by you” (initial error in 𝓟)
    • even so if ye shall keep the commandments of my son or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto [him > you 1|you ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] by [you > him 1|him ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] ye shall prosper in the land
• Mosiah 3:13 (see Revelation 14:6, “to every nation and kindred and tongue and people”)
  • “to every kindred nation and tongue” (original text) > “to every nation and kindred …” (initial error in 𝓟)
    • and the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men to declare these things to every [NULL > Kindred 1|kindred ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] nation [& Kindred > NULL 1| ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] [NULL > & 1|and ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] tongue
• 3 Nephi 18:32
  • “return and repent” (original text) > “repent and return” (initial error in 𝓟)
    • for ye know not but what they will [repent >+ return 1|return ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] and [return >+ repent 1|repent ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST]

Thus it is quite plausible that Oliver Cowdery could have mixed up the order of glory and majesty in 2 Nephi 12:21, although there is no particular motivation for the switch in word order in 2 Nephi 12:21.

On the other hand, it needs to be recognized that the earliest extant word order in 2 Nephi 12:21 will work—that is, one can be smitten by “the majesty of his glory” as well as by “the glory of his majesty”. Here in the Isaiah quotations, we will allow textual variants that work (providing, of course, that they are supported by the earliest textual sources). On this basis, the critical text will here in verse 21 retain the earliest extant reading even though there is evidence to suggest that the exceptional phraseology “the majesty of his glory” is the result of an early transmission error in the Book of Mormon text.