Alma 34:6 Textual Variants

Royal Skousen
and ye also [behold 0|beheld 1ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST] that my brother hath proven unto you in many instances that the word is in Christ unto salvation

Here the original manuscript reads in the present tense, “and ye also behold”. When he copied from 𝓞 into 𝓟, Oliver Cowdery replaced behold with the past-tense beheld. The surrounding text is in the present perfect, such as “my brother hath proven” in the following clause and “we have beheld” in the preceding sentence:

This preceding instance of the past participle beheld in verse 5 may have prompted the change to the past-tense beheld in verse 6. The critical text will restore the original present-tense behold here in Alma 34:6. For further discussion of the mix-ups between behold and beheld, see under Jacob 5:37.

Summary: Restore in Alma 34:6 the simple present-tense reading behold found in the original manuscript; the present-tense usage is consistent with the present perfect in the surrounding text.

Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, Part. 4

References