| Book of Mormon |
Annotations |
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An account of the sons of Mosiah, who rejected their
rights to the kingdom for the word of God, and went up to the land of Nephi
to preach to the Lamanites; their sufferings and deliverance—according to the
record of Alma.
Comprising chapters 17 through 27.
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Chapter 17
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1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from
the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his
astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of
Zarahemla.
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2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the
angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see
his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in
the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for
they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures
diligently, that they might know the word of God.
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3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much
prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the
spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and
authority of God.
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4 And they had been teaching the word of God for the space
of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing
many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many
were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their
sins before him.
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5 Now these are the circumstances which attended them in
their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both
in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much labor
in the spirit.
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6 Now these were their journeyings: Having taken leave of
their father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges; having refused the
kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also this
was the minds of the people;
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7 Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla,
and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their
arrows, and their slings; and this they did that they might provide food for
themselves while in the wilderness.
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The only pre-Columbian weapon I can find that was similar
to a sword was the macuahuitl which was made with a plank of wood similar in
shape to a cricket bat with obsidian blades mounted on the edges. It is
similar enough to a sword that it is often referred to as the Aztec sword.
However, the macuahuitl does not seem to fit the Book of Mormon
time frame. “Some groups of Central Mexico, principally in the transition
between the Early and the Late Post-Classic, probably developed this
weapon” (emphasis added, Dr. Marco Antonio Cervera Obregón, “The macuahuitl:
an innovative weapon of the Late Post-Classic in Mesoamerica”, Arms &
Armour, Vol.3, Nov. 2, 2006, p. 146, article from a research journal).
The Post-Classic period is between 900 CE and the Spanish conquest.
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8 And thus they departed into the wilderness with their
numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the
word of God unto the Lamanites.
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9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the
wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant
unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that
they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were
possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to
the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were
not correct.
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10 And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with
his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.
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11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the
Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in
long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto
them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the
salvation of many souls.
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12 And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of
Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the
Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.
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13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the
borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and
departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again
at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work
which they had undertaken.
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14 And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to
preach the word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a
people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering
them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and
precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and
plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands.
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15 Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did
worship idols, and the curse of God had fallen upon them because of the
traditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord were
extended unto them on the conditions of repentance.
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16 Therefore, this was the cause for which the sons of
Mosiah had undertaken the work, that perhaps they might bring them unto
repentance; that perhaps they might bring them to know of the plan of
redemption.
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17 Therefore they separated themselves one from another,
and went forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power
of God which was given unto him.
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18 Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did
administer unto them, and he departed from them, after having blessed them
according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto
them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took
their several journeys throughout the land.
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19 And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land being
called after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites.
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20 And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites
took him and bound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell
into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the
pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast
them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and
pleasure.
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21 And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over
the land of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of
Ishmael.
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This is about 500 years after the Lehites leave Jerusalem,
and King Lamoni is a descendant of Ishmael.
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22 And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to
dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.
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23 And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among
this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.
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24 And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased
with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that
Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.
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25 But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy
servant. Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass
that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according
to the custom of the Lamanites.
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26 And after he had been in the service of the king three
days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to
the place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the
Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—
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27 Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were
driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number
of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and
scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered
them insomuch that they fled many ways.
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28 Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying:
Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were
scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly,
saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.
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29 Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now
when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he,
I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which
is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts
of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words.
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30 And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw
the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.
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31 And it came to pass that he flattered them by his
words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the
flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place
of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not
slay us.
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32 And it came to pass that they went in search of the
flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness
and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to
the place of water.
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33 And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but
Ammon said unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee
not; and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.
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34 Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he
went forth and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus;
and they were in number not a few.
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35 Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed
that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they
knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out
of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore
they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they
stood to scatter the flocks of the king.
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36 But Ammon stood forth and began to cast stones at them
with his sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and
thus he slew a certain number of them insomuch that they began to be astonished
at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their
brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore, seeing
that they could not hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to
slay him.
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37 But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite
Ammon, he smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their
blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that
they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they were
not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm.
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Alma 17:37-39
The only pre-Columbian weapon I can find that was similar
to a sword was the macuahuitl which was made with a plank of wood similar in
shape to a cricket bat with obsidian blades mounted on the edges. It is
similar enough to a sword that it is often referred to as the Aztec sword.
However, the macuahuitl does not seem to fit the Book of
Mormon time frame. “Some groups of Central Mexico, principally in the transition
between the Early and the Late Post-Classic, probably developed this
weapon” (emphasis added, Dr. Marco Antonio Cervera Obregón, “The macuahuitl:
an innovative weapon of the Late Post-Classic in Mesoamerica”, Arms &
Armour, Vol.3, Nov. 2, 2006, p. 146, article from a research journal).
The Post-Classic period is between 900 CE and the Spanish conquest.
And, a sword-like weapon even with sharp stone on its edge would not be able
to cut off arms like this, certainly not multiple arms.
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38 Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he slew
none save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as
many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few.
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Annotation for Alma 17:37-39 above
Also, how is it that he “slew none save it were their leader,” but then it
tells us he cut off “not a few” arms? apparently these guys, “not a few,”
survived having their arms cut off in spite of the medical knowledge (or lack
thereof) in about 91 BCE. There’s the initial blood loss, and let’s not
forget the likelihood of infection even if somehow a person did survive the
initial wound back then.
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39 And when he had driven them afar off, he returned and
they watered their flocks and returned them to the pasture of the king, and
then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off by
the sword of Ammon, of those who sought to slay him; and they were
carried in unto the king for a testimony of the things which they had done.
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Annotation for Alma 17:37-39 above
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