Alma 28

Alma 28:1

1 And now it came to pass that after the people of Ammon were established in the land of Jershon, and a church also established in the land of Jershon, and the armies of the Nephites were set round about the land of Jershon, yea, in all the borders round about the land of Zarahemla; behold the armies of the Lamanites had followed their brethren into the wilderness.

The last phrase of this verse would appear to indicate that the Lamanite attack came on the heels of the arrival of the people of Ammon. While somewhat proximate in time, there are nevertheless at least two years in between these events. See the discussion of chronology following verse 7 below.

Alma 28:2

2 And thus there was a tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem; yea, and tens of thousands of the Lamanites were slain and scattered abroad.

Alma 28:3

3 Yea, and also there was a tremendous slaughter among the people of Nephi; nevertheless, the Lamanites were driven and scattered, and the people of Nephi returned again to their land.

Mormon indicates that this is the greatest battle ever between the Lamanites and the Nephites. Indeed, from this point on we will see an increasing militarism from the Lamanites. This increase in militarism is parallel to the increasing emphasis on the cult of war seen among the Maya during this time period, an escalation that continues through the rest of the Book of Mormon period.

Social: At the end of verse 3 we have a victorious people of Nephi returning again to their land. This does not mean that they followed the Lamanites into the land of Nephi and therefore had to return to the land of Zarahemla, but rather that they literally returned to their lands. The Nephite army would be created upon demand, other than a few guards it would not have been a standing army. When the call to arms came, the men would leave their lands and go to war. At the end, the army disbanded, and the men would literally, as the text notes, return to their lands.

Alma 28:4

4 And now this was a time that there was a great mourning and lamentation heard throughout all the land, among all the people of Nephi—

Alma 28:5

5 Yea, the cry of widows mourning for their husbands, and also of fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea, the brother for the father; and thus the cry of mourning was heard among all of them, mourning for their kindred who had been slain.

Alma 28:6

6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity, and a time of much fasting and prayer.

Social: While is should not be surprising, verse 5 tells us that men and older unmarried sons would have comprised the army. The emphasis on the men who were mourned not only tells us a little about the composition of the army, but perhaps suggests that while there were intense battles, they fighting did not arrive in the cities, as we do not have mourning for women. That would have happened if the war had been carried close to the homes. It appears that this battle was fought at a distance from the most heavily occupied land.

Alma 28:7

7 And thus endeth the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi;

Chronology. The fifteenth year of the reign of the judges would be approximately 79 BC in the correlation used in this commentary.

We have three recorded dates for two military actions. The first date is from Alma 16:9 that tells us that the destruction of Ammonihah takes place in the eleventh year of the reign of the judges. We then discover that there are three years of peace, and that the Lamanites return in the fourteenth year (Alma 16:12). The battle of the fourteenth year of the reign of the judges would be the same as the one we have just now seen, yet we have here the ending of the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges. This might appear to indicate that the hostilities covered an entire year.

This is unlikely to be the case. Conflicts would have been very difficult to sustain over that length of time for logistical reasons alone. The attacking army would require food, and a year-long battle would give neither attacker nor defender the opportunity to plant and harvest. What we must therefore understand is the “missing year” between the attack that comes in the fourteenth year and this statement that the fifteenth year has ended.

We can conclude that the battle has terminated prior to the end of the fifteenth year because Mormon includes the indications of mourning prior to closing the year record. This lets us know that we do not need to see the battle as extending to the end of the fifteenth year. What we do not know is how close. This may be an irrelevant question, however, given the nature of the record that Mormon appears to be using.

Mormon’s source appears to be broken into year records. At the end of the events of the year, the year record closes. Within that year, we do not always get an accurate picture of the timing of events, perhaps because it was uninteresting to Mormon in his distant timeframe and religious purpose in creating the record. What we have here is Mormon simply closing the year as his source does. While we might appear to have a missing year, it is most likely that this is simply an artifact of the way Mormon uses his source material.

Alma 28:8

8 And this is the account of Ammon and his brethren, their journeyings in the land of Nephi, their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy, and the reception and safety of the brethren in the land of Jershon. And now may the Lord, the Redeemer of all men, bless their souls forever.

Textual: This is the terminating verse for the unit that describes the mission of Ammon and the sons of Mosiah. Mormon has created a separate unit for this story, but will finish the chapter with transitional material. From a historian’s viewpoint, Mormon had the problem of intertwining different events that occurred at the same time. Mormon tends to break these events along gross thematic lines, but since there is overlap in the real world timing of events, he is unable to segregate them entirely.

Alma 28:9

9 And this is the account of the wars and contentions among the Nephites, and also the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites; and the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges is ended.

This begins the small historical unit that describes battles. These battles will become a greater theme as we get closer to the time of the birth of Christ, but at this point Mormon is simply setting the stage for the increase in conflict. This is an important historical conclusion, but Mormon will not end the chapter on this note. He places the historical material in context here, but will finalize the entire chapter with the glorious response of Alma to his friends (our chapter 29).

Alma 28:10

10 And from the first year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed.

Mormon is summarizing the first fifteen years and emphasizing the destruction of lives. The particular event that he refers to is this great battle in the fifteenth year that is the bloodiest yet with the Lamanites (verse 2). Nevertheless, he wants us to see all of the events from the first year of the reign of the judges to this point leading to this final point. It is true that there have been other battles, but the first one he records is in the fifth year (Alma 2), so the beginning point of the first year could not be because of a battle. Mormon sees these events as cumulative, and the great increase in detail we will see for not only the book of Alma, but also Helaman, where we have more information per year than any other section of the Book of Mormon save the sections on Christ’s visit, perhaps tell us that Mormon sees all of these events as critical to arriving at the point of Christ’s visit.

Alma 28:11

11 And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are moldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are mourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.

Alma 28:12

12 While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness.

Literary: Mormon intentionally creates a parallel in these verses. In verse 11 we have many mourning for the dead, and also mourning because they fear for the eternal soul of the dead. These are contrasted with those who also mourn for their dead, but who have hope in the promises of the Lord.

It is tempting to suggest that the first category of people refers to the Lamanites, and the second to the Nephites, but this is probably not the case. Mormon worries very little about the Lamanites, and his concerns are almost uniquely Nephite. When Mormon discusses those who mourn, he is speaking of the loss of Nephite kindred. Among those Nephites, however, we have seen that there are differences of opinion about religion, with some believing the prophets, and some following the order of the Nehors. It is more likely that Mormon is referring to these internal divisions, and that it is Nephites who do not follow the gospel who “have reason to fear” (verse 11).

Alma 28:13

13 And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.

Alma 28:14

14 And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life.

Literary: This is another intentional parallel. Just as there are two sets of mourners, there are two types of people. Mormon’s conclusion to the first fifteen years of the reign of the judges appears to encompass the original story of Nehor in the first chapter of Alma though the story of the missionary journey of the sons of Mosiah. Mormon is using the results of those events as a great contrast in the benefits of following the Lord.

In verse 13 he begins with the idea of “inequality” and “cunning plans which [the devil] hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men. The inequality of man is a reference to the social program of the Nehors which espoused social segregation. Of course the preaching of the order of the Nehors was “cunning,” and certainly captured the hearts of many. Mormon would place Ammonihah here as the prime example of the ensnarement, and also of the ultimate destruction it leads to. At this point the destruction of Ammonihah is both metaphorical and physical. The physical being a sign of the spiritual destruction which had already taken place.

To this Mormon contrasts the gospel. While the most recent battle has given all of the Nephite believers the sad opportunity to have hope in the resurrection, nevertheless, the example of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies has been Mormon’s strongest description in this section. Their defenseless death has its only hope in the gospel, and Mormon clearly and rightly portrays them as great examples of faith. Thus these verses summarize the moral of the first fifteen years of the reign of the judges.

Textual: There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition.