“Yield Up Unto the Nephites the Lands of Their Possession”

Brant Gardner

Since this group stayed in their location, it is not clear why or how they “did yield up” land to the Nephites. Mormon does not record any mass movement of Nephites into the land of Nephi. So why did Nephites need land, and why did these new Lamanite converts give it to them? I argue that the “lands of their possession” did not mean the land of Nephi, since Mormon would probably have used the traditional description: “lands of their inheritance.” Furthermore, it is highly improbable that the Lamanites, who had controlled the land of Nephi for about two hundred years, would have yielded up that control. A more logical interpretation is that the Lamanites withdrew their political influence from the land of Zarahemla, their most recent acquisition.

That explanation also covers Nephi’s appearance in Zarahemla without any other indication of how Zarahemla had returned to Nephite control. Mormon records no battle or political negotiations.

Text: There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition. In fact, this artificial division masks the outcome of this mass conversion of the Lamanites. When we return to the narrative in Helaman 6, Mormon is comparing the righteousness of the Lamanites and Nephites—a direct outgrowth of this miraculous conversion.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 5

References