Social: Read in its most simplistic form, this verse indicates that the Nephite churchmen became rich – even richer than the non-churchmen in Zarahemla. Mormon even explicitly states this in verse 31. However, a closer reading shows that this comparative wealth may have been defined by sympathetic eyes. How were the Nephite churchmen so wealthy?
First, Mormon’s essential definition of wealth was; “having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need.” This is an egalitarian’s definition of wealth, not a modern one. A modern definition of wealth might be that we have an abundance of things that surpass what we need.
If, in the modern world, one might suppose that one “needs” an automobile, then having one that works satisfies Mormon’s definition of “wealth.” For most of us who not only own one automobile, but even more than one, we find that this doesn’t make us feel very wealthy at all. If we are to measure wealth by automobiles, we would discuss the excessive cost of the automobile, or deem one wealthy if they had a different car for every day of the week.
Similarly, we can gain an understanding of Mormon’s definition of wealth by examining the precise items he uses as evidence of this “wealth.” Most of the items of “wealth” have to do with the adequate, even abundant, provision of the necessities of life: flocks and herds, fatlings, grain, material for clothing. One of the particular types of cloth is very clearly noted as “good homely cloth” (note that “homely” in this context is not the modern connotation of unattractive, but rather “plain”).
It is also very true that some of the items of wealth do come closer to our modern definitions; gold silver, silk, and fine-twined linen. What we must remember, however, is that in the Mesoamerican culture in which we posit Nephite society, gold and silver were not intrinsically valuable. They were not money but rather a product for barter. Having gold or silver did not make one rich, because the gold and silver did not have any value of their own. Similarly, the silk and fine-twined linen let us know that with abundant foodstuffs there was sufficient time to make nicer cloth than simply the “good homely cloth.” However, the silk and the fine-twined linen are specifically not the costly apparel that was the mark of social distinction.
All of Mormon’s markers of wealth were the marks of an egalitarian society that had what they needed, but were not involved in ostentatious display that led to social divisions. It is probably very fair to note that were a non-churchman to look at this Nephite society, they might not deem it nearly as “rich” as does Mormon, precisely because it did not contain the ostentatious “costly apparel” that they came to associate with wealth.