Alma and his people could not have been pleased with Amulon’s appointment, but why did the Lamanites find it acceptable? Why would they establish as subject-king a man who had kidnapped Lamanite women and had only recently, perhaps within a matter of days or weeks, joined forces with the Lamanites? Perhaps the Nephites and Lamanites spoke different languages and Amulon, of Nephite descent, could communicate with the subject people. This possibility, however, does not seem likely. Almost certainly, many Nephites remained behind in the city of Nephi when Mosiah led his people away. The Nephite language may well have changed in Zarahemla, as they integrated with the larger Mulekite population, but Zeniff/Noah/Limhi’s return to the land of Nephi would have brought them back into contact with people who already spoke the same language—not enough time had elapsed to make their languages mutually exclusive. (See commentary accompanying Mosiah 9:1.)
A more complicated scenario seems more reasonable in explaining Amulon’s elevation. His previous power among the Almaites, despite religious and political alienation, would still facilitate a readier acceptance of his authority while a Lamanite appointee would have been seen not only as foreign but as an enemy.
I argue that the Lamanites accepted Amulon’s allegiance to them, not only because of the strength of the oath (see commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 2:15, 4:31–35) but also because of the bond of kinship with the Lamanites established by their marriages to Lamanite women. Even though they probably had no direct kin in the army, they were of the same city and therefore considered of the same people, a greater kin group. The combination of their marriages and their oath of fealty would have made the Amulonites into Lamanites. Because they had voluntarily become part of the Lamanite political and cultural system, the Lamanites could trust them to further Lamanite interests.
Text: There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition.