2 Nephi 9:41 Textual Variants

The 1837 edition introduced the reading righteous. This may reflect editing by Joseph Smith or perhaps an error on the part of the 1837 typesetter. Speakers of English expect “his paths are righteous”, and that may be the reason the text was changed, whether intentionally or accidentally, here in 2 Nephi 9:41. The 1908 RLDS edition restored the reading of the printer’s manuscript (“his paths are righteousness”).

The King James Bible refers to both “the paths of righteousness” (Psalm 23:3) and “the paths of the righteous” (Proverbs 2:20). If we expand our search to include way(s) as well as path(s), we find that the Book of Mormon has similar examples with both righteousness and righteous:

righteousness

• 1 Nephi 16:5 the paths of righteousness
• Mosiah 29:23 the ways of all righteousness
• Alma 5:37 the ways of righteousness
• Alma 7:4 the way of his righteousness
• Alma 7:19 the paths of righteousness
• Helaman 6:31 the way of righteousness

righteous

• Alma 10:18 the ways of the righteous

But in all of these examples, the word righteousness or righteous is found in a prepositional phrase headed by of. In 2 Nephi 9:41, the word righteousness (or righteous) is a subject complement: “his paths are righteous(ness)”. Although there are no other examples that use path(s) in this manner, there is one with way(s):

• 2 Nephi 1:19 for his ways are righteousness forever

This example clearly shows that the original usage in 2 Nephi 9:41 (“his paths are righteousness”) is fully acceptable.