Culture: Mormon reports the important information that the judgment-seat was left vacant by the murder—and without a successor. This vacuum is the recipe for social disorder, which immediately follows: “Therefore, there began to be a contention.” While the traditional Nephite government has asserted itself against challengers, it has not eliminated the factions that are ideologically opposed to Nephite principles. These dissenters have arisen in the past and now arise again. As long as there is a fundamental disunity in the land of Zarahemla, this conflict between the values of the outside world and those of the Nephite tradition will continue to erupt.
Text: Mormon continues to organize his text by year markers. The last year ended with peace, which continues into the forty-second year with peace having been “established again.”
Chronology: The forty-second year of the reign of the judges corresponds to 52 B.C.