Both Nephi and Moroni use “and it came to pass” when recounting events
of the past, but when writing of their current lives respectively, the phrase
is not used. Nephi began the large plates, then two or more decades later, he
is commanded to create the small plates as a record for more spiritual things. So
when making the small plates, he is recounting his past life up until he
catches up to his “present”; thus Nephi uses “it came to pass” 198 times from 1
Nephi 1:1 to 2 Nephi 5:20, but from 2 Nephi 5:31 to the end of 2 Nephi, he never
uses the phrase again. Likewise, Moroni uses “it came to pass” throughout his
summary of the book of Ether, the past record of the Jaredites, but never uses
it in writing about his own life. (Brian D. Stubbs, Changes in Languages from
Nephi to Now [2d ed.; N.P.: Brian D. Stubbs, 2020], 18)
. . . Hebrew pluralizes some nouns not
normally plural in English. The amplified plural is illustrated by “bloodsheds”
(2 Nephi 1:12; 2 Nephi 6:15; Alma 35:15; Alma 62:39); “labor with their mights”
(Jacob 5:72); “with all the energies of my soul” (1 Nephi 15:25). (Brian D. Stubbs, Changes
in Languages from Nephi to Now [2d ed.; N.P.: Brian D. Stubbs, 2020], 23)
