Benjamin draws lines around the nature of the Nephite king. He is human even though rightfully consecrated. He rules through his lineage, but also through Yahweh’s power. While Yahweh is declared to be behind the throne, he is not declared to sit on the throne.
Culture: Benjamin notes that he rules because “I have been chosen by this people.” Of course, he also notes that he rules by lineal right (“consecrated by my father”) and as with all things, by Yahweh’s grace. We see in this statement the presence of what will be known as the “voice of the people,” a mechanism of rule that becomes more formally established in the reign of the judges that Benjamin’s son will institute. (See “Excursus: The Voice of the People,” following Mosiah 29.)
This revelation of Benjamin’s dependence upon his subjects for the right to rule fits with general anthropological understandings of many ancient or less complex civilizations. Most societies have rules, but each society must also devise ways of enforcing those rules. Anthropologist A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, describes the most common options: (1) a moral sanction in which each person would express displeasure with the offender; (2) a ritual sanction in which religious forces are brought to bear upon the guilty, making them “unclean” or otherwise unfit for participating in the community, or (3) a penal sanction, in which persons empowered by the society inflict punishment under law.
King Benjamin has no standing army. His successors do not have standing armies. There is no mention of a police force or any other body specifically entitled to preserve law. The larger the society the more some kind of enforcement will be required, but during our entire record of Nephite society we do not see specific social mechanisms of control. It is probable that the larger the society became the more the king’s guards become the enforcement mechanism; for instance, Gideon is the king’s “captain” (Mosiah 20:17), suggesting some standing body that could have been used for enforcement as well as for the protection of the king.