“Many Battles with the Nephites”

Brant Gardner

Textual: This is Mormon’s summary of the battles of the Nephites and Lamanites, and clearly is given from his later Nephite perspective. Mormon does not give us the political importance of the raid on Ammonihah because it he is uninterested in Lamanite politics in his writings, though it would be fair to assume that he did understand the political motivations behind the attack. At this point he simply treats the attack as any other, and lumps them with other attacks on the Nephites, which were rebutted. From Mormon’s perspective, it is important to add the verse that tells us that the Nephites did win many battles after his brief mention of a very spectacular loss that they had incurred. From Mormon’s perspective, he doesn’t want to leave the impression of any lasting power in the Lamanites at this point.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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