Literary: This is another intentional parallel. Just as there are two sets of mourners, there are two types of people. Mormon’s conclusion to the first fifteen years of the reign of the judges appears to encompass the original story of Nehor in the first chapter of Alma though the story of the missionary journey of the sons of Mosiah. Mormon is using the results of those events as a great contrast in the benefits of following the Lord.
In verse 13 he begins with the idea of “inequality” and “cunning plans which [the devil] hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men. The inequality of man is a reference to the social program of the Nehors which espoused social segregation. Of course the preaching of the order of the Nehors was “cunning,” and certainly captured the hearts of many. Mormon would place Ammonihah here as the prime example of the ensnarement, and also of the ultimate destruction it leads to. At this point the destruction of Ammonihah is both metaphorical and physical. The physical being a sign of the spiritual destruction which had already taken place.
To this Mormon contrasts the gospel. While the most recent battle has given all of the Nephite believers the sad opportunity to have hope in the resurrection, nevertheless, the example of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies has been Mormon’s strongest description in this section. Their defenseless death has its only hope in the gospel, and Mormon clearly and rightly portrays them as great examples of faith. Thus these verses summarize the moral of the first fifteen years of the reign of the judges.
Textual: There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition.