Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
Mosiah Chapter 5
Mos 5:72 Now Ammon said unto him, I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the
records: for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date: and it is
a gift from God.
5:72 King Limhi was deeply concerned about the record engraved on the plates. The value of the gold in
those plates and the relics obtained with them were of minor importance. "Doubtless, a great mystery is
contained within these plates" (83).
Ammon said that the king of Zarahemla was a prophet, seer, and revelator. The interpreters could be
used by a seer but by no one else, "except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not,
and he should perish" (73). The king "rejoiced exceedingly" at this news and the prospect of solving
what to him was a great mystery.
Mosiah refers to these twenty-four gold plates as "plates of ore" (Mos. 9:169). The goldsmith's art was
very ancient. It was a craft practiced by the Jews as they came out of Egypt under the leadership of
Moses. “And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in
the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work” (Exod. 39:3).