Scriptures/The Book of Mormon/Mosiah/25

Scriptures/The Book of Mormon/Mosiah
Mosiah 25 at churchofjesuschrist.org

1 And now king Mosiah caused that all the people should be gathered together.

2 Now there were not so many of the children of Nephi, or so many of those who were descendants of Nephi, as there were of the people of Zarahemla, who was a descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the wilderness.

3 And there were not so many of the people of Nephi and of the people of Zarahemla as there were of the Lamanites; yea, they were not half so numerous.

4 And now all the people of Nephi were assembled together, and also all the people of Zarahemla, and they were gathered together in two bodies.

5 And it came to pass that Mosiah did read, and caused to be read, the records of Zeniff to his people; yea, he read the records of the people of Zeniff, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until they returned again.

6 And he also read the account of Alma and his brethren, and all their afflictions, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time they returned again.

7 And now, when Mosiah had made an end of reading the records, his people who tarried in the land were struck with wonder and amazement.

8 For they knew not what to think; for when they beheld those that had been delivered out of bondage they were filled with exceedingly great joy.

9 And again, when they thought of their brethren who had been slain by the Lamanites they were filled with sorrow, and even shed many tears of sorrow.

10 And again, when they thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God.

11 And again, when they thought upon the Lamanites, who were their brethren, of their sinful and polluted state, they were filled with pain and anguish for the welfare of their souls.

12 And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites.

There is a lot going on in this verse.

1. The major theme is a conversion from sorrow and faithlessness to good, but this theme is laid out in the context of the taking of a new name, a temple motif which is very appropriately placed within the story of Alma's journey, as his passing from the wilderness to Zarahemla marks the transition from the Nave of the temple to the Holy of Holies.
2. As occurs often when a critical theme is being portrayed, the author has gotten very deliberate about using poetic structure. There's a small chiasm wrapping a set of chained statements, though as is interestingly common in Nephite poetry, the poetic structures appear to overlap asymmetrically.

The chiastic wrapping:

• And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites,
• that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites.

In Hebrew tradition, it is the tribe of the mother that determines the tribe of the children. Therefore, by that standard, these children would be considered Lamanite, the unfaithful. "Children of Amulon" should also be read as something like "children of sorrow" because Amulon's name is connected to that idea. By taking on the name of Nephi (good/beautiful/fair, connected to the tree of life and joy), they become the children of good, or the children of joy, and they become numbered among the good. It is a highly significant transition from the sorrow of the wilderness signified by the second room of the temple, to the beauty of the tree of life signified by the final room of the temple.

Chained statements:

• were displeased with the conduct of their fathers,
• and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers,
• therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi,
• that they might be called the children of Nephi (The structures overlap here)

In this way, the language chains together the elements of a transition from "children of Amulon" (sorrow) and "Lamanites", to "children of Nephi" (joy) and "Nephites".

Other thoughts:

There are some themes here that we should be able to recognize as being more explicit in other parts of the Book of Mormon. In 2 Nephi 5:27, we learn that the Nephites of that time "lived after the manner of happiness". Inasmuch as Nephi is connected to the tree of life, (and I believe that his name was intended by Lehi to be a reference to the tree of life) his name is also connected to joy, and hence, an excellent counterpoint to the sorrow implied by the name Amulon. We could add "joy" or "happiness" to the list of meanings the Nephites associated with the name of their founder as a way their linguistic tradition enlarged upon the word's meaning. In addition to this, we appear to have what appears to be the oldest example of Lamanites joining the Nephites. If the Lamanites actually had a skin of blackness, then these children would have partaken of that to by some mixture, but there's no explicit mention made of it, yet the talk of them becoming Nephites, is symbolically the same. They become the children of joy and are called white, could be one rendering of what is described here, which might be more succinctly rendered as the "white and delightsome" of the original 2 Nephi 30:6. While the primary meaning of the words differs, it has the same symbolic reference to the tree of life, and happiness.

Nephi: Inasmuch as the name, Nephi, appears to be an intentional reference to the fruit of the Tree of Life, and hence, an allusion to Christ, this poem could be alluding to the idea of taking upon ourselves the name of Christ.

Hmm: The progression of fathers to name to Nephi, reminds me of the list of names found in 1 Nephi 8:14, where we read "I beheld your mother Sariah, and Sam, and Nephi". "Sam" means "name". We have "mother Sariah" in the place of father. I can't quite nail down the significance of that progression of ideas, but it's interesting to see such a similar one here.

See 1 Nephi 17:5-6 for a similarly themed poem.

13 And now all the people of Zarahemla were numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom had been conferred upon none but those who were descendants of Nephi.

Interestingly, this statement continues with the same theme as the previous verse, creating an overlapping chiasm, chaining the people of Zarahemla into the theme, with the points and counterpoints being:

• children of Nephi
  • numbered among those who were called Nephites
  • numbered with the Nephites
• descendants of Nephi

14 And now it came to pass that when Mosiah had made an end of speaking and reading to the people, he desired that Alma should also speak to the people.

15 And Alma did speak unto them, when they were assembled together in large bodies, and he went from one body to another, preaching unto the people repentance and faith on the Lord.

16 And he did exhort the people of Limhi and his brethren, all those that had been delivered out of bondage, that they should remember that it was the Lord that did deliver them.

17 And it came to pass that after Alma had taught the people many things, and had made an end of speaking to them, that king Limhi was desirous that he might be baptized; and all his people were desirous that they might be baptized also.

18 Therefore, Alma did go forth into the water and did baptize them; yea, he did baptize them after the manner he did his brethren in the waters of Mormon; yea, and as many as he did baptize did belong to the church of God; and this because of their belief on the words of Alma.

19 And it came to pass that king Mosiah granted unto Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave him power to ordain priests and teachers over every church.

20 Now this was done because there were so many people that they could not all be governed by one teacher; neither could they all hear the word of God in one assembly;

21 Therefore they did assemble themselves together in different bodies, being called churches; every church having their priests and their teachers, and every priest preaching the word according as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma.

22 And thus, notwithstanding there being many churches they were all one church, yea, even the church of God; for there was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God.

23 And now there were seven churches in the land of Zarahemla. And it came to pass that whosoever were desirous to take upon them the name of Christ, or of God, they did join the churches of God;

24 And they were called the people of God. And the Lord did pour out his Spirit upon them, and they were blessed, and prospered in the land.

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