“A Proclamation Among All His People”

Brant Gardner

As Limhi had said, he declared a day of rejoicing for his people. That they were to gather themselves together required both that a proclamation be sent and that the people leave their fields. As with other settlements, including Zarahemla, the people do not live within the city/town proper, but most live outside on their land. This is the reason that a proclamation must be sent out. There is no other way to communicate effectively with the scattered population.

The very fact that the people were gathered leads to the rejoicing that Limhi indicated. This is because usually only two occasions would pull the people from their fields, war and festival. Since this was not war, it would be festival, by the very fact that all came together. The coming together would require them to remain for at least a day, and to therefore come provisioned. It is most likely that provisions would be shared, the communal exchange of food being almost as important a “glue” for an agricultural society as gossip in the markets.

The people come together to the temple. The temple in Limhi’s city would probably follow the same pattern as other Mesoamerican temples. With the stepped pyramid, the temple proper would be an excellent platform for public focus on the king, as well as creating a reasonable way of hearing the speaker. As with other Mesoamerican temples, it would have been built in a large enclosure, a space specifically available for large ritual gatherings.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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