On 2 Nephi 2:25 and “Adam fell that men might be:”
This colon is one of very
few punctuation marks that dramatically change the meaning of a passage. Here,
the original colon suggests that “men are that they might have joy” is a
clarification of “Adam fell that men might be.” One possible reading of this
punctuation is that “joy” comes after this life, as a result of the
final redemption from the Fall. A semicolon here could simply suggest that we exist
to have joy. The colon can be read to have that same implication as well.
The difference, of course,
is that one suggests joy may only come after this life while the other
teaches that joy comes during this life, as a result of the Fall.
Because this doctrine is highly controversial and prevalent among some
restorationists, we’ve retained the original colon. (The Book of Mormon:
1840 JSV Edition, ed. Drew Briney [JSV Publications, LLC., 2025], 71-72 n.
26)
On Mormon 8:38 and “ . . . Why do you not think that
greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies,
because of the praise of the world?”
This possibly unnecessary
(and original) comma is one of very few punctuation marks that dramatically
change the meaning of a passage. If removed, it states that misery that never
dies results from the praise of the world. IF retained (or more properly, replaced)
with a question mark, the following phrase can or should be read as a
speculative guess—that is, Moroni guesses that his audience believes misery
that never dies is greater than happiness because the praises of the world
deceive them into believing it is so. (The Book of Mormon: 1840 JSV Edition,
ed. Drew Briney [JSV Publications, LLC., 2025], 600 n. 67)
To Support this Blog:
Email for Amazon Gift card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com
Email for Logos.com Gift Card: IrishLDS87@gmail.com
