Moroni has quelled the most dangerous threat by eliminating Lamanites from the fortified sectors; but before turning his attention again to the western front, he improves the eastern defenses. Not only does he increase the fortifications, but he also concentrates on improving the food supply, thus averting “famine and affliction, and providing food for their armies.” This year-long battle during which Moroni was pinned down in the east meant that at least one growing season had passed. Almost certainly many of the farmers were in the army, leaving women, old men, and children to tend the fields.
A reduced number of farmers translated directly into lower yields, which inevitably led to the famine. And since the army required so much food, the famine would likely have been worse among the women and children at home.
Translation: Verse 6 comments that “the city of Mulek,… was one of the strongest holds of the Lamanites in the land of Nephi.” But Mulek is obviously in Zarahemla, not Nephi. Daniel Ludlow proposes “three possible explanations… : (1) Perhaps this land is being called ‘the land of Nephi’ by the Lamanites because they now possess it as they also possess the land of Nephi in the south. (2) The Nephites could have a ‘land of Nephi’ in the north, although such a land has not been mentioned before and is not mentioned later. (3) The phrase ‘in the land of Nephi’ might be used to identify those particular Lamanites mentioned in the verse and to differentiate them from Lamanites living in other parts of the country.”
Unfortunately, none of these explanations is satisfactory. As for the first, there is no evidence whatsoever for a “land of Nephi” in the north. As for the second, this is a Nephite record, and unlikely to use Lamanite names; indeed, we cannot be sure that the Lamanites called their land the “land of Nephi”—the term consistently used throughout Mormon’s record—and their antipathy to Nephi suggests that they would not.
Obviously, this is simply an error. Mulek is in the land of the Nephites, not the “land of Nephi.” I read it as Joseph’s slip, not as Mormon’s. If it had been Mormon’s, he might have meant to write: “the city of Mulek, which was one of the strongest holds of the Lamanites in the land of the Nephites.” But Mormon would have been unlikely to make the mistake of interchanging Nephite territory and the land of Nephi. “Nephite” is not typically how Mormon referred to lands under Nephite control. The internal reference to the political entity holding this land is “the land of Zarahemla.” Mormon uses “Nephite” to designate a group of people, but not to refer to the land. Thus, this mistake would be a difficult one for Mormon, but an easy one for Joseph, who was much less aware of these geo-political nuances.