Scribe 2 of 𝓟 initially wrote “from this time henceforth and forever”; then he deleted the hence (spelled as hense and separated from the following forth by a space). There is no other instance in the Book of Mormon text of the expression “from this time forth and forever”, so one may wonder whether scribe 2’s correction here may involve some incompleteness or difficulty in the transmission. We note, for instance, that Oliver Cowdery (when he proofed 𝓟 against 𝓞) initially crossed out the and of “forth and forever” but ended up restoring the word by supralinearly inserting an ampersand. Obviously, he wasn’t simply correcting the writing of the and with the ampersand since he otherwise left scribe 2’s and ’s in the manuscript.
One possibility is that in Alma 7:27 scribe 2 of 𝓟 crossed out only part of what he should have—that is, he should have crossed out not only hence (spelled as hense) but also and forever. In other words, perhaps the original text read simply as “from this time forth”, which might make better sense when speaking of one’s houses, lands, flocks, herds, and physical possessions (which presumably would not actually last forever):
On the other hand, one could argue that an expression like “from this time … and forever” does not literally mean ‘for eternity’ but simply for the entire time period that is appropriate to the situation, as in Alma 20:26: “I will grant unto you that my son may retain his kingdom from this time and forever”.
Another possibility for Alma 7:27 is that scribe 2 of 𝓟 crossed out hense because he intended to correct this spelling to hence, but then he neglected to do so. In other words, the original manuscript read “from this time henceforth and forever” except that henceforth was spelled hense forth. Scribe 2 of 𝓟 otherwise spells henceforth with the c and as one word (that is, according to the standard spelling):
On the other hand, Oliver Cowdery sometimes spelled henceforth as either hense forth or henseforth (in 3 out of 11 passages). For each of the three passages, the spelling with the s is in the printer’s manuscript:
Only one of Oliver’s spellings for henceforth is extant in 𝓞, in Alma 45:17, and there the word is spelled as hence forth, unlike the henseforth in 𝓟. But given the frequency in 𝓟 with which Oliver misspelled henceforth with an s, he probably also spelled some instances of henceforth in 𝓞 with an s. In other words, scribe 2 of 𝓟 could have spelled the word as hense forth when he initially wrote it in Alma 7:27 because Oliver’s spelling in the original manuscript was hense forth. Of course, this whole argument depends on the claim that scribe 2 avoided spelling henceforth as hense forth and that he tended to replace Oliver’s nonstandard spellings with his own.
One major problem with these two suggested emendations (each one assuming an incomplete correction on the part of scribe 2 of 𝓟) is that Oliver Cowdery, when he proofed 𝓟 against
𝓞, never further corrected scribe 2’s emendation (although, as noted above, Oliver did end up rewriting the and of “from this time forth and forever” with an ampersand).
Moreover, we can find some evidence from the King James Bible in support of scribe 2’s corrected reading in 𝓟:
In each of these biblical examples, the phrase “from this time forth” is followed by “and (even) forevermore”, not the same as the Book of Mormon’s “and forever”, but close. In any event, the biblical expression suggests that “from this time forth and forever” (the corrected reading in 𝓟 for Alma 7:27) is possible.
Finally, the strongest evidence against emending the corrected reading in 𝓟 for Alma 7:27 is the sheer variety of expressions in the Book of Mormon text that refer to future time and begin with either “from this time” or “from that time”, some of which occur only once (just like “from this time forth and forever” in Alma 7:27):
from this time
“from this time henceforth and forever” 4 times
“from this time henceforth” 2 times
“from this time forth” 3 times
“from this time forth and forever” 1 time (Alma 7:27)
“from this time forward” 3 times
“from this time and forever” 1 time (Alma 20:26)
“from this time” 2 times
from that time
“from that time henceforth and forever” 2 times
“from that time henceforth” 1 time (Alma 45:17)
“from that time forth” 10 times
“from that time forward” 2 times
“from that time” 4 times
Given this immense variety, the critical text will maintain the unique reading “from this time forth and forever” in Alma 7:27, scribe 2’s corrected reading in 𝓟 (and left unchanged by Oliver Cowdery when he proofed 𝓟 against 𝓞).
Summary: Accept in Alma 7:27 scribe 2’s corrected reading in 𝓟, “from this time forth and forever”; this unique expression is supported by similar phraseology in the Psalms of the King James Bible as well as by the overall variety in the Book of Mormon for expressions that start out with either “from this time” or “from that time”.