2 Nephi 11:4 Textual Variants

Although this double occurrence of for (as “for for”) seems awkward to modern English readers, it is nonetheless fairly common in the Book of Mormon text, occurring six times elsewhere:

• 2 Nephi 25:25
  • for [NULL >jg , 1|, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] for this end was the law given
• 2 Nephi 26:10
  • for [ 1|, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] for the reward of their pride and their foolishness they shall reap destruction
• 2 Nephi 31:17
  • for [ 1|, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] for this cause have they been shewn unto me
• Jacob 4:4
  • for [ 1|, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] for this intent have we written these things
• Helaman 14:11
  • for [ 1|, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] for this intent I have come up upon the walls of this city
• Moroni 8:6
  • for [ 1|, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] for this intent I have written this epistle

In each instance, the first for is a subordinate conjunction and the second for is a preposition (typically in phrases such as “for this intent”, “for this cause”, and “for this end”). One could shift the word order around to show that the use of the double for is indeed intended, as here in 2 Nephi 11:4: “for the law of Moses hath been given for this end”. In each of these examples, the 1830 typesetter placed a comma between the two for ’s, in order to help the reader parse the sentence. None of these double for ’s have ever been elided to a single for, either by accident or by editing.

This same use of “for for” is found in the King James Bible, but unlike the Book of Mormon editions, the printed King James text does not have a comma between the two for ’s:

• Romans 13:6
  • For for this cause pay ye tribute also:

• 1 Peter 4:6
  • For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, (For these examples, the King James accidentals are provided.)