A Drive By Question!

[_kairos]

Who changed the name to Cumorah and Why?

Wikipedia says:

"Since the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon printed the name "Cumorah" as "Camorah," it has been suggested that Smith used the name of the islands and applied it to the hill where he found buried treasure—the golden plates.[34] Complementing this proposal is the theory that Smith borrowed the name of a settlement in the Comoros[islands]—Moroni—and applied it to the angel which led him to the golden plates."

So the second edition of the Book of Mormon respells "Camorah" to "Cumorah" and the rest is history, I think.

Why would Joseph Smith edit the name in the second edition of the Book of Mormon?

just askin

k

[_Dr. Shades]

To better cover his tracks.

[_kairos]

Bump for more esoteric answers-the answer actually has a lot to do with the sources Joseph Smith used for the Book of Mormon. Why would Joseph Smith care if Cowdery or whoever was his scribe wrote down Camorah vice Cumorah unless he was trying to get it right from some source document he had been using. now if the story that oliver read back to joseph each line and joseph looking at the seer stone heard it spelled correctly then the read back process failed in this instance.
somewhere there has to be a master's thesis from byu on this question and its answer.

comments please!

k

[_grindael]

Don't hold your breath.

[_Nightlion]

Was not a correction of a typeset error, was it? Have we checked? Must we take for granted everything Sandra comes up with is golden?
Was is spelled camorah in every instance throughout? Repeats Nine times but all in the same chapter so it could still be a typo.

[_Brackite]

Was not a correction of a typeset error, was it? Have we checked? Must we take for granted everything Sandra comes up with is golden?
Was is spelled camorah in every instance throughout? Repeats Nine times but all in the same chapter so it could still be a typo.

I think that you might be correct.

Mormon 6:4:

Early Text: And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah,
and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah.

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/content ... liest-text


1830 Edition: And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Camorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Camorah;

http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paperS ... 1830?p=535


Modern Edition: And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah;

[_Brackite]

I recently found this information:

It is interesting that a copy of the original Book of Mormon manuscript, called the printer's manuscript, written in 1829–1830, reveals three different spellings for this place-name. In Mormon 6:2, “Camorah” appears once; In Mormon 6:5, 11, “Comorah” is twice seen; and in Mormon 6:2, 4, 6; 8:2, “Cumorah” is found six times.[xxii] In the first published edition of the 1830 Book of Mormon, all nine references are spelled “Camorah.”[xxiii] Still, the name itself is more important than slight variant spellings.

http://www.mormonthink.com/grantpalmer/grant11.htm


[xxiii] Cf. Book of Mormon (1981), Mormon 6:2-6, 11; 8:2 [RLDS, Mormon 3:3-8, 13; 4:2], with the 1830 first edition, 529-530, 533. Twenty-eight percent of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon is extant today. Unfortunately, the section where “Camorah” appears, in Mormon 6: 2-6, 11; 8:2, is lost. In 1835, Oliver Cowdery said that “Camorah” in the first edition “is an error” (Oliver Cowdery, “Letter VII,” Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 1 (July 1835):158; qtd. in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:449). In the 1837 edition, all nine spellings were changed to Cumorah. Without the original manuscript we may never know the correct spelling of the word found in Mormon 6:2-6, 11; 8:2.

http://www.mormonthink.com/grantpalmer/ ... htm#_edn23

[_kairos]

[xxiii] Cf. Book of Mormon (1981), Mormon 6:2-6, 11; 8:2 [RLDS, Mormon 3:3-8, 13; 4:2], with the 1830 first edition, 529-530, 533. Twenty-eight percent of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon is extant today. Unfortunately, the section where “Camorah” appears, in Mormon 6: 2-6, 11; 8:2, is lost. In 1835, Oliver Cowdery said that “Camorah” in the first edition “is an error” (Oliver Cowdery, “Letter VII,” Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 1 (July 1835):158; qtd. in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:449). In the 1837 edition, all nine spellings were changed to Cumorah. Without the original manuscript we may never know the correct spelling of the word found in Mormon 6:2-6, 11; 8:2.

http://www.mormonthink.com/grantpalmer/ ... htm#_edn23

thanx brackite- you have added much to the thread- things can go pretty deep or simply say the typesetter go it wrong. as you noted the printer's manuscript has 3 different spellings yet the 1830 edition uses camorah consistently meaning to me that the typesetter used the first spelling to be the truest one and followed through with ever place the word showed up.

now when Joseph Smith edited the printer's 1830 script for the 1835 edition is there information on how that edit was made? ie did he make the universal change to cumorah? i apologize if i missed the answer in what you provided.

good work

k

[_Nightlion]

Was not a correction of a typeset error, was it? Have we checked? Must we take for granted everything Sandra comes up with is golden?
Was is spelled camorah in every instance throughout? Repeats Nine times but all in the same chapter so it could still be a typo.

I think that you might be correct.

Mormon 6:4:

Early Text: And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah,
and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah.

https://bookofmormoncentral.org/content ... liest-text


1830 Edition: And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Camorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Camorah;

That's a first.

http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paperS ... 1830?p=535


Modern Edition: And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah;

[_kairos]

So what rationale did Skousen give to use Cumorah rather than Camorah?