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Book of Mormon Commentary
Alma Chapter 20
LAMANITES AND NEPHITES PREPARE FOR WAR, VER. 1-24
Alma 20:5 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came with their thousands; and they came into the
land of Antionum, which was the land of the Zoramites; and a man by the name of Zerahemnah was
their leader.
Historians must record the sad and evil of the nations as well as their victories and good deeds. In
the eighteenth year of the reign of Nephite judges, word came that the Zoramites had joined the
Lamanites and they were preparing for war. The Nephites prepared to meet them in the land of
Jershon. The enemy gathered in Antionum nearby.
The Amalekites, who were Nephite dissenters, had already joined the Lamanites and had a great
hatred toward the Nephites. Therefore, Zerahemnah selected his captains from the ranks of the
Amalekites (6,7).
Alma 20:15 And thus the Nephites were compelled, alone, to withstand against the Lamanites, who
were a compound of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, and all those who had dissented from
the Nephites, who were Amalekites, and Zoramites, and the descendants of the priests of Noah.
The people of Ammon supported them with "a large portion of their substance” (14), but had made
a covenant never again to take up arms. Arrayed against the Nephites were "a compound of Laman
and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, and all those who had dissented from the Nephites, who
were Amalekites, and Zoramites, and the descendants of the priests of Noah" (15). There were
more than twice as many of them compared to the Nephite armies (57).
The chief captain of the Nephites was a twenty-five-year-old man named Moroni ( 18) .He met the
Lamanite army in the borders of Jershon. He had prepared his army with shields for their heads,
arms, and breasts, and with thick clothing as well as "all manner of weapons of war" (20,21). The
Lamanites had no shields or armor and "were exceeding afraid of the armies of the Nephites" (24).
MORONI USED STRATAGEM AGAINST LAMANITES, VER. 25-60
Alma 20:25 Behold, now it came to pass, that they durst not come against the Nephites in the borders of
Jershon; therefore they departed out of the land of Antionum, into the wilderness, and took their journey
round about in the wilderness, away by the head of the river Sidon, that they might come into the land of
Manti, and take possession of the land; for they did not suppose that the armies of Moroni would know
whither they had gone.
The Lamanites retreated to the wilderness and went round about the head of the river Sidon to the
land of Manti. Moroni sent spies to watch them and messengers to Alma asking him to inquire of
the Lord if it were right for them to defend themselves (26). The answer was that the Lamanites
were planning to take possession of Manti.
Moroni left a part of his army in Jershon, and the rest he took to Manti. There he organized the
people to defend their country, their rights and liberties (30). Then he secreted his army in the
valley near the west bank of the river Sidon.