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Book of Mormon Commentary
Alma Chapter 15
(19). Alma took them to his own house in Zarahemla, and they told the chief judge Nephihah
(2:24) the whole story.
THEY ARE GIVEN PROTECTION AND THE LAND OF JERSHON, VER. 22-42
Alma 15:23 And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the
land of Jershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of
the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an
inheritance.
But this was not all: "We will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi, that we
may protect our brethren' , ( 24) .They would thus relieve their Lamanite brethren of any
temptation to break their pledge not to take up arms and thus commit sin. Alma returned with
Ammon to the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi and made a report. The people received the news with
great joy, and went down to possess the land of Jershon. From this time on the Nephites called
them "the people of Ammon" (29); and they were "numbered among the people who were of the
church of God" (30).
Alma 15:31 And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for
they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto
the end.
Here is a beautiful example of the trans- formation of a large group from the grossest of sinners to
become sons of God. Because of their hope in the resurrection through Christ's victory over the
grave, death had no terror for them; but they abhorred the shedding of blood. "And thus they were
a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord" (35).
Alma 15:36 And now it came to pass that after the people of Ammon were established in the land of
Jershon, and a church also established in the land of Jershon; and the armies of the Nephites were set
round about the land of Jershon; yea, in all the borders round about the land of Zarahemla; behold the
armies of the Lamanites had followed their brethren into the wilderness.
A great battle ensued; "such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land
from the time Lehi left Jerusalem" (37). Both sides lost heavily. Tens of thousands of the
Lamanites were slain and scattered abroad" (37). Great mourning was heard through the land:
widows for their husbands, fathers for sons, daughter for brother, and brother for the father (40).
The historian said it was “a time of much fasting and prayer."
MORMON TOLD THEIR HISTORY AND PRAISED GOD, VER. 43-69
Alma 15:46 And from the first year to the fifteenth, has brought to pass the destruction of many
thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed;
In his abridgment Mormon tells of the experiences of Ammon and his brethren, their sorrows "and
their incomprehensible joy"; then he mentions the wars and contention among the Nephites, also