“He Spake as It Were with a Voice of Thunder”

Brant Gardner

In the commentary accompanying Mosiah 27:11, the narrative description of this event, I pointed out the Mesoamerican importance assigned to the voice of thunder and the shaking earth. Alma includes these same details in this later retelling. They were sufficiently important to be part of this polished retelling, even though they clearly have no further connection to paganism for him. They had high significance for him at the time and are probably cultural definitions of experience with deity that had become universal among the Nephites.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4

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