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

Book of Mormon Commentary
3 Nephi Chapter 2
no intention of running away. Since he could not induce Gidgiddoni to attack him, he had to take
the initiative.
The robbers resorted to some psychological warfare of their own. They came out to battle with
lambskins girded around their loins which had been dyed in blood. They had cut their hair and
wore headplates (50).
When the Nephites saw them, they fell upon their knees and prayed for deliverance (52).
The Gadiantons mistook this as an act of fear and a play for mercy; therefore, they gave loud
shouts of joy (53).
3 Ne 2:56 And great and terrible was the battle thereof; yea, great and terrible was the slaughter thereof,
insomuch that there never was known so great a slaughter among all the people of Lehi since he left
Jerusalem.
This is a superlative statement covering a period of six hundred years and many wars. "The
Nephites did beat them, insomuch that they did fall back from before them" (57). Gidgiddoni
commanded his soldiers to pursue the Gadiantons "and not spare any." That is, they were not to
take prisoners. Giddianhi was overtaken and slain.
The Gadiantons took nearly two years to recoup their forces. Then they laid siege against the
Nephites upon all sides. Zemnarihah, their general, did not plan well, for the Nephites had stores
to last for a long siege, while his army had to depend on game from the wilderness.
3 Ne 2:68 And it came to pass that the wild game became scarce in the wilderness, insomuch that the
robbers were about to perish with hunger.
With this great advantage the Nephites went out by day and night and cut down the robbers "by
tens of thousands" (69). In response to popular desire, Zemnarihah commanded his men to
withdraw "into the furthermost parts of the land, northward" (70, 71). Gidgiddoni learned of their
design and set a trap for them. Part of his army went out by night to cut off their retreat, while the
rest attacked them from the rear. Many thousands of the Gadiantons "did yield themselves up
prisoners." The rest were slain. Zemnarihah was captured and hanged from the top of a tree. Then
the tree was cut down as a symbol of their prayer that all who worked through secret combinations
should similarly fall to the earth (76).
NEPHITES PRAISE GOD FOR THEIR DELIVERY, VER. 77-109.
3 Ne 2:78 And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing and praising their God, for
the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their
enemies;
"Their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great
goodness of God" (80). They acknowledged that this could have happened only as a result of their
repentance and humility (81).