Book of Mormon Commentary - Alma 22

Aaron teaches Lamoni's father about the creation, the fall of Adam, and the plan of redemption through Christ—The king and all his household are converted—How the land was divided between the Nephites and the Lamanites. [Between 90 and 77 B.C.]

 27^a sea, on the east and on the west This obvious feature places the 'sea east' and the 'sea west', as also stated in this verse, on the east side of the land and on the west side of the land as here depicted.
 27^b land of Zarahemla The land of Zarahemla was upon the north and the land of the Lamanites, which is called in the Book of Mormon as the land of Nephi as depicted.
 27^c a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west The land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi was by this date (about 80 B.C.) divided by a 'narrow strip of wilderness', which went from coast to coast, from the east to the west.
    27^c1 round about on the borders of the seashore Still speaking of this wilderness and also speaking relative to the land of Zarahemla, this wildernes continued on 'round about' the borders of the land of Zarahemla along the seashore both, as it will later be varified, on the west and on the east of the land of Zarahemla as depicted.
    27^c2 the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahamela This statement clarifies and varifies that Zarahemla was on the north and that it was the wilderness which was round about upon the borders of that land as depicted.
    27^c3 through the borders of Manti Continuing to define this 'wilderness', it ' states that this wilderness bordered Manti, which Manti was to the south of the city of Zarahemla and its the immediate land. This substantiates that the 'national land of Zarahemla did include all the cities and lands of the Nephites, the city of Manti and its land being one such land and city.
    27^c4 by the head of the river Sidon This sets out that Manti was south by the headwaters of the river Sidon and it was upon this border of these headwaters that the wilderness did border.
    27^c4a running from east towards the west As the headwaters beginnings of any river does, the river Sidon would have had various tributaries. The main considered tributary still recognized as the river Sidon flowed from the east to the west and that was where Manti did border upon that narrow strip of wilderness which divided the nations of the Nephites and the Lamanites as depicted.

 28^a more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness
Not all the Lamanites were 'idle' as there were cities and buildings and palaces such as that of King Lamoni and his father. But there was a large group of the Lamanites which followed after the life of living in tents along the western sea coast.
 28^b dwelt in tents Lehi's family had lived in a tent in the valley of Lemuel, in the wilderness as they journeyed and they would have continued to live in tents for the first part of there lives upon the land of promise and particularly in the land of first inheritance.
 28^c they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi They were on the west of the Land of Nephi.
 28^d and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla This occupation had moved northward along the coast until these 'idle' tent dwelling Lamanites where on the west coast in the land of Zarahemla.
 28^e in the borders by the seashore They lived along the borders of the seashore, likely looking to the ocean for a part of their livelihood.
 28^f on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance Their fathers would have been Laman, Lemuel and the two sons of Ishmael, and this was the land first permanently settled in the promised land, the land of first inheritance.
 28^g thus bordering along by the seashore Thus marked in yellow representative lines is the considered regions spoken of, being on the west of the land of Nephi and on the west of the land of Zarahemla along by the seashore.

29 And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them^a. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites^b; nevertheless the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness^c, at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west^d, round about on the wilderness side; on the north, even until they came to the land which they called ^aBountiful^e.
30 And it bordered upon the land which they called ^aDesolation^a, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed^b, of whose ^bbones we have spoken, which was discovered by the ^cpeople of Zarahemla^c, it being the place of their ^dfirst landing^d.

 29^a there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them In a previous to this date, the Nephites in battle with the Lamanites had driven them into the 'eastern wilderness' and such Lamanites had come to live in those regions unoccupied by the Nephites though perhaps technically the Nephites did consider it to be their land. This is now depicted on the name by the yellow lines on the east of the land of Zarahamela.
 29^b the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites There were Lamanites to the left of them, there were Lamanites to the right of them, and there were Lamanites in front of them. This is nearly surrounded with the exception that they did not have Lamanites behind them to their north.
 29^c the Nephties had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness These 'northern parts' ranged from the central headwaters of the river Sidon on the southern most border of the Land of Zarahemla including such lands and cities as Manti, Minon, Melek, Zarahemla (provincial), Gideon, Ammonihah, Noah, Sidom, Aaron, Jershon, Antionum and Bountiful to mention the few which are in the 1% abridgment record of the Book of Mormon, for there are many more which are unnamed but certainly implied.
 29^d at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west In a particular sense, a river has to beginnings or two heads. One might state the the Missisippi begins or starts in New Orleans and travels up into the interior of the continental United States and all would understand well what was said. Another may speak of the beginning of the same river up high in the mountains and that it flows down to it outlet. What is the head, beginning of start of a river can be taken from these two various perspectives. In the sense that the 'head of the river Sidon' being spoken of means where it joins the sea in the 'east' and it flowing back up to the 'west'. There is other indications that this is the course of the lower Sidon river and that it does empty to the sea east.
 29^e round about on the wilderness side; on the north even until they came to the land which they called Bountiful. The term 'round about' implies a circular form or shape or just going 'around/about' the perimeter of a land such a going 'round about' the whole of the land of Zarahemla until one comes to the northern most province of Bountiful. The region of Bountiful is to be further discussed but simply considered, it is the 'cork' in the narrow neck region which prohibits any Lamanite access to the land northward.
 30^a it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation The land Bountiful's northern border was shared with the land called Desolation as depicted.
 30^b it being so far nothward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed Bountiful reached northward on up into the narrow neck like a cork to the point that it had reached the land which had been peopled by the Jaredites who had been destroyed leaving their bones covering the landscape.
 30^c which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla This land of desolation covered with dry bones was 'discovered' by Mulek's group known as the poeple of Zarahemla.
 30^d it being the place of their first landing Mulek's group, the people of Zarahemla, had landed as generally accepted upon the east coast of the land of Desolation. Thier initial landing could have been anywhere along this eastern coastal region as depicted on the map. And as the statement inticates, this was but their 'first landing', which implies that they did sail again and land again, perhaps even to the sailing up the navigable northern end of the Sidon river.

 31^a they came from there up into the southern wilderness They refers to Mulek's group, called the people of Zarahemla. They came 'up', meaning from sea level up in elevation, and and 'into' implies that they did not remain on the coast but did come 'into' the interior of the land southward. This coupled with the fact that their landing in the land of Desolation was but their 'first landing' would seem to possibly imply that they did come into the interior of the land southward by a water route, having at least a 'second landing' to fill out the concept of a first landing. Could they have sailed 'up' the Sidon river?
 31^b Thus the land on the north was called Desolation The name given to that land northward was first given by those who landed there, the people of Zarahemla. Thus the reason the land northward was called Desolation is because the people of Zarahemla had given it that name, being the 'first' people to have landed there from a Nephite perspective.
 31^c land on the southward was called Bountiful, it being the wilderness which is filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind Mormon had just established that Desolation was called by that name as it was the name given that first land of landing by the people of Mulek, the people of Zarahemla. Mormon proceeds with that same line of reasoning in stating why the land immediately south of Desolation was called Bountiful, because it was the name first given it by those who first occupied it. And those who first occupied the land Bountiful immediately upon the south of the land desolation were those who came to a land 'filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind'. This has direct reference back to 1 Nephi 18:25 were is the only place in the Book of Mormon with this exact phases, 'all manner of wild animals' and 'of every kind'. This is consistent with the portrayal of a wilderness called Hermounts (Alma 2:37) which was on the north and on the west of Zarahemla and it was also 'infested by wild and ravenous beasts. The map depicts this wilderness of Hermounts indicating that it did indeed occupy the southern regions of the land Bountiful north of Zarahemla and around to the west of Zarahemla. This ties the wilderness of Hermounts to both Bountiful and the land of Lehi's first landing. Lehi's party had named this land of bounteous havest and domestic and wild animals of every kind, by the name of Bountiful. Yes the over all land was the 'land of promise'. But the immediate site of landing was called Bountiful after the first Bountiful they had departed from where they had built the ship. And that name Bountiful of this second land by that name had stuct and remained, as the Nephites knew it to be the same land of Lehi's landing, that second land of Bountiful.
 31^d which had come from the land northward for food This added note solidifies the concept. About the time of Lehi's landing, Shiz of the Jaredites was in the midst of sweeping the land clean in a scorched earth policy. What animals that did escape the Jaredite nation would have been in search of food. The fact that Lehi's party found not only wild animals of every kind but also various domestic animals must have seemed somewhat of a miracle to Lehi's party. They had not brought animals with them. These animals where brought there after the division of the earth in the days of Peleg. The were brought there by the Jaredites. And as just stated these domestic animals 'had come from the land northward for food'. And there were right there, just south of the narrow neck of land, in the land of Bountiful for Lehi's party to find them and round them up.