Sunday, April 2, 2023

An Important Textual Variant in OT1 and OT2 of Moses 7:2

In what is now Moses 7:2, OT Manuscript 1, p. 15 reads:

 



 

Enoch began to prophecy saying unto the people, that as I was journ[ey]ing and stood in the place Mahujah and I cried unto the Lord there came a voice out of heaven saying turn ye and get ye upon the Mount Simeon

 

In OT Manuscript 2, p. 23, we read:

 



 

Enoch began to prophecy, saying unto the people, that, as I was Jourieying And stood in the place Mahujah, & I cried unto the Lord, there came a voice out of Heaven, Saying, turn ye & get ye upon the mount Simeon.

 

As Jeff Bradshaw noted:

 

Note that the canonized version of Moses 7:2 reads Mahujah as a place name while OT1 renders Mahujah as a personal name. in other words, the original dictation seems to indicate that Enoch is “standing with” Mahujah, “not standing on” the place Mahujah. And OT1 also seems to indicate that the two of them prayed together. (Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Enoch and the Gathering of Zion: The Witness of Ancient Texts for Modern Scripture [Orem, Utah: The Interpreter Foundation, 2021], 91-92)