“Where is This Man That Has Such Great Power!”

George Reynolds, Janne M. Sjodahl

The wonderment that filled Lamoni's breast, because of what his servants told him about the Nephite, was magnified by the superstitious fear that Ammon was indeed the Great Spirit. Time and time again, Lamoni strived to disquiet his troubled feelings; just as often as he did so, thoughts of the Nephite's personal bravery entered his soul. The king could not rest from inquiry about his servant whose valor enabled him to encounter danger with such feats of heroism.

"Where is this man that has such great power?" the king demanded. Lamoni, not seeing the stranger among his servants became further troubled. And Ammon, by his absence from the king's presence, showed no regard for personal advantage. All the time that King Lamoni and his retinue of servants were contemplating the things that had happened, Ammon was busy fulfilling the king's orders which had been given prior to taking his cattle to water.

It appears that Lamoni's father, who was king of all the Lamanites, had prepared a great feast which was to be celebrated in the Land of Nephi where the head monarch held court. Lamoni and his entourage were especially invited guests. They planned to attend, showing forth all the pomp and ceremony to which their savage nature inclined, and which they felt was due the great king. Horses and chariots enough to carry all was Lamoni's command. To attend the feast in regal splendor would naught but add to Lamoni's already high estate.

To that end, and that all the desires of the king should be fulfilled wherein Ammon labored, the Nephite servant to the Lamanite king rendered his service as one who never rested while the day's work remained undone. Ammon, untiring, made ready the king's cavalcade. The king's horses and chariots were his chief concern. This pleased Lamoni, for among all his servants there was not another who so faithfully carried to completion his commands which to them were law. Not only that, but this man remembers all my commandments to execute them, the king said.

Every move the king made, every question he asked, focused upon Ammon. That a mere servant, one who too was a despised Nephite, should confuse the king, or throw into disorder his well-laid plans, was, in itself, a matter that weighed heavily upon his royal highness. More and more Lamoni's wonder grew; greater and greater became his astonishment, until at last all opposition to Ammon melted away under the rays of Celestial Fire that imbued both the servant and the king.

Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3

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