This verse can be read in connection with Mormon’s brief statement that there had been false Christ’s with whom Benjamin had to content (Words of Mormon 1:15). As noted in the discussion of that verse, in the Mesoamerican context it would be very much in keeping with the native religion to have men who impersonated and represented the gods. Benjamin had to work hard to remove those contentions from his people, and he is here reminding them of that fact. He very specifically references those “false Christs” when he declares that “ye should [not] fear me, [n]or that ye think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.” The declaration of his mortal state is an important aspect of Benjamin’s address because it places him in direct contrast to the “false Christs” or the god-impersonators. Although king; although a prophet who may speak for God (as he has just declared), Benjamin declares himself human, and therefore qualitatively different from the pagan religion he has recently cleansed from his people and lands.
The second context for this statement relies on the same deification of person, but rather than specifically relate to the “false Christs,” Benjamin may also be referring to the nature of Mesoamerican kingship. The best evidence for kingship among the Maya shows the distinct necessity of connecting to not only a royal, but a divine, lineage (Schele, Linda, and Mary Ellen Miller. The Blood of Kings. George Braziller, Inc. 1986, p. 103). This may be the better of the readings, as the rest of Benjamin’s introduction appears to serve as a way to distinguish Benjamin for other kings with whom Benjamin’s people were clearly familiar.