“For the Space of Twenty and Two Years”

Brant Gardner

Zeniff’s preparations were apparently sufficient to deter Lamanite retaliation, since the Zeniffites were able to maintain the peace for nine more years. It is also possible to read this sentence as 22 years after the thirteen years mentioned in Mosiah 9:14. While this is certainly possible, the general method of marking years in the Book of Mormon is from the beginning of a dynasty, not an event in the dynasty. Reading this as nine years later than the first attack is more consistent with the general practice of marking years in the Book of Mormon.

This ability to deter further aggression highlights the complications inherent in the first attack. There was certainly no highly organized drive to attack behind that first attack because it did not push its way into the city of Shemlon, remaining satisfied with the spoils of the flocks on the south of the land of Shilom. In addition, the Zeniffite retaliation did not set off another aggression by Shemlon, indicating that the attack was somehow not considered to be directed to Shemlon. While there are many unanswered and unanswerable questions concerning the first attack, it would seem that the Lamanite city of Shemlon did not consider itself directly threatened by the Zeniffite retaliation. However, as we shall see, it did use this retaliation (at least according to Zeniffite records) as a justification for the attack that comes in this chapter.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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