“Willing to Enter into a Covenant”

Brant Gardner

This is the high point of the entire day’s address. Benjamin has brought them together to give them a new name (Mosiah 1:11) and that name flows from the covenant his people are now willing to make. The very nature of this covenant requires that it be voluntary, and once again, the power of the event lies in its spontaneity. Regardless of the mechanism by which this point was achieved, it is certain that they entered the covenant willingly. For Benjamin’s purposes, no other method would suffice.

The end result of this new covenant/new name will be a more tightly unified community, and divisions within will be broken down “in wisdom and order (Mosiah 4:27).” Divisions such as the socio-economic segregation Benjamin has specifically used as an example will happen only voluntarily. We remember again that no where does Benjamin indicate that he has any but moral power to enforce his rule. Benjamin cannot enforce unity through military presence, but through spiritual transformation.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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