“They Did Walk After the Commandments Which They Had Received”

Brant Gardner

Like the passage about marriage, these verses are nearly non-information. Mormon has already recorded Jesus’s explanation that he had fulfilled the law of Moses (3 Ne. 9:17, 15:4–6) and that Nephite religious observances now came from his gospel (3 Ne. 15:9–10). Thus, this passage is not only repetitious but inconsequential. It tells us nothing new. This event is not specific to the time period, reinforcing the hypothesis that, in 4 Nephi, Mormon is only marking empty time; the few events he mentions are non-specific. Structure, not episodes, carries the message.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 6

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