This book has been more than a decade in the making, and I’m grateful to everyone who has helped along the way. My wife, Lani, has offered insight into most aspects of this project, as have my parents, Lee and Shawna Hilton. My son Joseph, who made an important textual discovery at the age of eleven, also deserves credit for motivating me to move forward with this publication.

I’m deeply indebted to my colleagues who helped initiate and create the Voices of the Book of Mormon Database: Randal Wright, Shon Hopkin, Jennifer Brinkerhoff Platt, and Jana Johnson. Others, including Nicholas Frederick, Grant and Heather Hardy, Paul Hoskisson, Dave LeFevre, Benjamin McGuire, Noel Reynolds, Avram Shannon, Joseph Spencer, Jenny Webb, John Welch, and Lynne Wilson, have generously offered feedback on various parts of this manuscript. Special recognition is due to Michelle Wilson, who edited the entire book and offered many suggestions that significantly strengthened it. Several research assistants, including Alyssa Aramaki, Matthew Critchley, Sunny Hendry Hafen, Jaron Hansen, Dana Knudsen, Jaclyn Nielson, and Lily Skinner, have also made valuable contributions.

I’m very grateful to Monte Shelley, Jason Dzubak, and Jesse Vincent for their technical expertise with WordCruncher. Without their unique capabilities, this book would not exist.

Finally, I’m grateful for the capable people at Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies Center who have made this book possible: Jared Ludlow, Leigh Ann Copas, Brent Nordgren, Julie Newman, Alex Socarras, Don Brugger, and Adi Marshall. I also appreciate the helpful suggestions of anonymous peer reviewers.