Alma 23:8-13 gives a list of those Lamanites who were converted unto the Lord. Among that list are some cities (Nephi, Lemuel, Shimnilom), but also there were those mentioned who were in "the land of Ishmael . . . the land of Middoni . . . the land of Shilom . . . the land of Shemlon." With this apparent mixture of terms, why would Mormon say in Alma 23:13, "these are the names of the cities of the Lamanites which were converted unto the Lord"?
Mormon seems to have blended the meaning of the terms "city of" and "land of." It is unclear whether the term "cities" mentioned in verse 13 refers only to the specifically named Nephi, Lemuel and Shimnilom mentioned just previously in verse 12, or whether the implication is that those areas referred to as "the land of Ishmael, . . . the land of Middoni, . . . the land of Shilom, and . . . the land of Shemlon" also were considered as the "cities of the Lamanites which were converted." The reader should note that although there is no city of Shilom mentioned here (only the "land of Shilom"), in Mosiah 7:21 and Mosiah 9:8 we have record of one. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]