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CHAPTER 52Ammoron succeeds Amalickiah as king of the Lamanites—Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi lead the Nephites in a victorious war against the Lamanites—The city of Mulek is retaken, and Jacob the Lamanite is slain. [About 66—64 B.C.] |
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1 And now, it came to pass in the *twenty and sixth
year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, behold, when the
Lamanites awoke on the first morning of the first month, behold, they found
Amalickiah was dead in his own tent; and they also saw that Teancum was
aready to give them battle on that day.
2 And now, when the Lamanites saw this they were affrighted; and they abandoned their design in marching into the land northward, and retreated with all their army into the city of aMuleka, and sought protection in their fortifications.
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2a retreated with all their army into the city of Mulek Now if Teancum was camped on the southern border of the land of Bountiful and the Lamanites who would have been on their south were to 'retreat' to the city of Mulek further south; then it must be supposed that Mulek was not in the land of Bountiful but south of that border (See Commentary Alma 51:32). |
2*
[66 B.C.] b Alma 51:36 2a Alma 51:26
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3 And it came to pass that the abrother of
Amalickiah was appointed king over the people; and his name was
bAmmoron; thus king Ammoron, the brother of king
Amalickiah, was appointed to reign in his stead.
4 And it came to pass that he did command that his people should maintain those cities, which they had taken by the shedding of blood; for they had not taken any cities save they had lost much blooda.
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4a save they had lost much blood Now from time to time one must pause and consider the greater and grander picture of the events of this Second Estate. And that is that the war of Satan waged against God in the preexistance was continued by Satan in that influence which he did obtain over the hearts of various wicked men. And since the fall it has been the design and intent of Satan to rule over mortal man with blood and horror. And thus is the case in all the great wars throughout the earth's history wherein one side persues to obtain the power of ruling over the population of men and to subject them into bondage and by varying degrees deprive them of that freedom of angency which God had given unto his sons and daughters whereby they might chose good or evil of their own accord. And Satan careth not for the children of men who are the children of God, and he does not suppport them in their sins but would rather see them suffer death and destruction and the spilling of much blood in the cause of his war and rebellion against God. |
3a
Alma 48:1-6;
Alma 54:5 b Alma 54:1; Hel. 1:16
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5 And now, Teancum saw that the Lamanites were determined to
maintain those cities which they had taken, and those parts of
the land which they had obtained possession of; and also seeing
the enormity of their number, Teancum thought it was not
expedient that he should attempt to attack them in their forts.
6 But he kept his men round about, as if making preparations for war; yea, and truly he was preparing to defend himself against them, by acasting up walls round about and preparing places of resort. 7 And it came to pass that he kept thus preparing for war until Moroni had sent a large number of men to strengthen his army.
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6a
Alma 50:1;
Alma 53:3
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8 And Moroni also sent orders unto him that he should retain all the
prisoners who fell into his hands; for as the Lamanites had taken many
prisoners, that he should retain all the prisoners of the Lamanites as a
aransom for those whom the Lamanites had taken.
9 And he also sent orders unto him that he should fortify the land aBountiful, and secure the bnarrow pass which led into the land cnorthward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them on every side.
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8a
Alma 54:2 (1-2) 9a Alma 22:29; Alma 53:3-4; Alma 63:5; Hel. 1:23 b Alma 22:32; Morm. 2:29 c Alma 51:30
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10 And Moroni also sent unto him, desiring him that he would be
afaithful in maintaining that quarter of the land, and that
he would seek every opportunity to scourge the Lamanites in that quarter, as
much as was in his power, that perhaps he might take again by stratagem or
some other way those cities which had been taken out of their hands; and
that he also would fortify and strengthen the cities round about, which
had not fallen into the hands of the
Lamanitesa.
11 And he also said unto him, I would come unto you, but behold, the Lamanites are upon us in the borders of the land by the west seaa; and behold, I go against them, therefore I cannot come unto you.
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10a that he also would fortify and
strengthen the cities round about, which had not fallen into the hands of the
Lamanites Often, because we tend to think in complete pictures,
we easlily forget that we are but getting a very small percentage of the
whole of the matter in the Book of Mormon's abridgment. And when the Book of
Mormon only speaks of certain cities, we tend to determine the whole of the
picture only from those cities so mentioned. But we need to remind ourselves
that the Book of Mormon lands and circumstance were much larger and greater
than what the Book of Mormon abridgment presents. We think in terms of
Bountiful being the single major city of the land of Bountiful and of the
coastal cities of defense from Moroni to Lehi as a complete picture of the
Nephite cities and lands, This is NOT the case. Though briefly mentioned here,
this example statement should remind us that there were many other cities and
land which the Book of Mormon record just does not mention by name or even
refer to. Round about Bountiful in that quarter and region of the land, there
were other cities as here stated, which had not been taken by the Lamanites,
which were maintained and protected by the Nephites. It WAS NOT
just the matter of there being only the city of Bountiful left in that region
of the land. Bountiful was merely the city which lie in the line of the
direct course which the Lamanites were persuing in order to obtain access to
the narrow pass and the land northward.
11a the Lamanites are upon us in the borders of the land by the west sea Now this speaks volumes concerning the geography of the land in respect to the fact that this is the southern border of the land of Zarahemla and those southern regions which run from Manti to the west sea, implying that Manti is significantly skewed toward the west sea coast. |
10a
TG
Trustworthiness
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12 Now, the king (Ammoron) had adeparted out of the
land of Zarahemla, and had made known unto the queen concerning the death of
his brother, and had gathered together a large number of men, and had marched
forth against the Nephites on the borders by the west sea.
13 And thus he was endeavoring to harass the Nephites, and to draw away a part of their forces to that part of the land, while he had commanded those whom he had left to possess the cities which he had taken, that they should also harass the Nephites on the borders by the east sea, and should take possession of their lands as much as it was in their power, according to the power of their armies. 14 And thus were the Nephites in those dangerous circumstances in the ending of the twenty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
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12a
Alma 51:28
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Geography of Bountiful and MulekNow it is beneficial to have a clear perspective of the
simple geographical relationships of the lands and the cities of Bountiful
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15 But behold, it came to pass in the *twenty and
seventh year of the reign of the judges, that Teancum, by the command of
Moroni—who had established armies to protect the south and the west
borders of the land, and had begun his march towards the land
Bountifula, that
he might assist Teancum with his men in retaking the cities which they had
lost—
16 And it came to pass that Teancum had received orders to make an attack upon the city of Mulek, and retake it if it were possible. 17 And it came to pass that Teancum made preparations to make an attack upon the city of Mulek, and march forth with his army against the Lamanites; but he saw that it was impossible that he could overpower them while they were in their fortifications; therefore he abandoned his designs and returned again to the city Bountiful, to wait for the coming of Moroni, that he might receive strength to his army.
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| 15a had begun his march toward the land of Bountiful Now from the southwest quarter of the land from Manti to the west sea of such cities as Cumeni, Zeezrom, Antiparah, Judea and others, the most direct route would have for Moroni to march down the western parallel valley which would pass through the lands of Melek and Ammonihah and thus on to Bountiful, being entirely undetected by the Lamanites in the city of Mulek. Thus fact would likely come into play in Jacob's decission to pursue the little army of Teancum, for if Jacob had known that the armies of Moroni were in he land, he certainly might not have been so easily enticed to be drawn out against Teancum. As an added note, the last we had heard of Lehi was that he was protecting the city of Noah. If Lehi was thus still employed, it does seem that Moroni upon this march which did so pass by Noah, had picked up Lehi from that assignment and included him and his army in Moroni's march unto Bountiful to engage the Lamanites where they had entrenched themselves. Certainly the city of Noah was no longer being threatened at this particular time. |
15*
[65 B.C.]
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18 And it came to pass that Moroni did arrive with his army at
the land of Bountiful, in the latter end of the twenty and
seventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
19 And in the *commencement of the twenty and eighth year, Moroni and Teancum and many of the chief acaptains held a council of war—what they should do to cause the Lamanites to come out against them to battle; or that they might by some means flatter them out of their strongholds, that they might gain advantage over them and take again the city of Mulek. 20 And it came to pass they sent embassies to the army of the Lamanitesa, which protected the city of Mulek, to their leader, whose name was Jacob, desiring him that he would come out with his armies to meet them upon the plains between the two cities. But behold, Jacob, who was a aZoramite, would not come out with his army to meet them upon the plains.
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20a they sent embassies to the army of the Lamanites It is a particular note of interest that it was not particularly attributed as being an epistle sent from Moroni which was delivered unto the Lamanites. Whenever Moroni did so sent messengers from him, his name is particularly mentioned. But it seems to be a strategic move at this juncture that the Nephites did not let the Lamanites become aware that they had been joined by Moroni and his armies, which likely included Lehi, for Teancum had been in charge in the quarter previous to that time. And it seems that the Lamanites were so left with that very impression that they were only dealing with Teancum and not also the army of Lehi and of Moroni as well. |
19*
[64 B.C.] a Alma 49:5; Alma 55:23 20a Alma 48:5
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21 And it came to pass that Moroni, having no hopes of meeting them
upon fair grounds, therefore, he resolved upon a plan that he might
adecoy the Lamanites out of their strongholds.
22 Therefore he caused that Teancum should take a small number of men and march down near the seashore; and Moroni and his army, by night, marched in the wildernessa, on the west of the city aMulek; and thus, on the morrow, when the guards of the Lamanites had discovered Teancum, they ran and told it unto Jacob, their leader. 23 And it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites did march forth against Teancum, supposing by their numbers to overpower Teancum because of the smallness of his numbers. And as Teancum saw the armies of the Lamanites coming out against him he began to retreat down by the seashore, northward.
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22a Teancum should take a small number of
men and march down near the seashore; and Moroni an his army, by night,
marched in the wilderness Thus positioned with Teancum
T upon the sea shore as though in
preparation to come to war and Moroni M
concelled in the
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21a
Josh. 8:13;
Alma 43:31 (30-43); Alma 56:30 22a Alma 51:26; Alma 53:6 (2-6)
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24 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that he began
to flee, they took courage and pursued them with vigor. And
while Teancum was thus leading away the Lamanites who were
pursuing them in vain, behold, Moroni commanded that a part of
his army who were with him should march forth into the city, and
take possession of it.
25 And thus they did, and slew all those who had been left to protect the city, yea, all those who would not ayield up their weapons of war. 26 And thus Moroni had obtained possession of the city Mulek with a part of his army, while he marched with the remainder to meet the Lamanites when they should return from the pursuit of Teancum.
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25a
Alma 44:6
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27 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue Teancum
until they came near the city Bountiful, and then they were met
by Lehi and a small army, which had been left to protect the city
Bountiful.
28 And now behold, when the chief captains of the Lamanites had beheld Lehi with his army coming against them, they fled in much confusion, lest perhaps they should not obtain the city Mulek before Lehi should overtake them; for they were wearied because of their march, and the men of Lehi were fresh. 29 Now the Lamanites did not know that Moroni had been in their rear with his army; and all they feared was Lehi and his men.
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30 Now Lehi was not desirous to overtake them till they should
meet Moroni and his army.
31 And it came to pass that before the Lamanites had retreated far they were surrounded by the Nephites, by the men of Moroni on one hand, and the men of Lehi on the othera, all of whom were fresh and full of strength; but the Lamanites were wearied because of their long march. 32 And Moroni commanded his men that they should fall upon them until they had given up their weapons of war.
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33 And it came to pass that Jacob, being their leader, being also a
aZoramite, and having an unconquerable spirit, he led the
Lamanites forth to battle with exceeding fury against Moroni.
34 Moroni being in their course of march, therefore Jacob was determined to slay them and cut his way through to the city of Mulek. But behold, Moroni and his men were more powerful; therefore they did not give way before the Lamanites. 35 And it came to pass that they fought on both hands with exceeding fury; and there were many slain on both sides; yea, and Moroni was wounded and Jacob was killed.
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33a
Alma 30:59
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36 And Lehi pressed upon their rear with such fury with his
strong men, that the Lamanites in the rear delivered up their
weapons of war; and the remainder of them, being much confused,
knew not whither to go or to strike.
37 Now Moroni seeing their confusion, he said unto them: If ye will bring forth your weapons of war and deliver them up, behold we will forbear shedding your blood. 38 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites had heard these words, their chief captains, all those who were not slain, came forth and threw down their weapons of war aat the feet of Moroni, and also commanded their men that they should do the same.
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38a
Alma 55:23
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39 But behold, there were many that would not; and those who
would not deliver up their swords were taken and bound, and their
weapons of war were taken from them, and they were compelled to
march with their brethren forth into the land Bountiful.
40 And now the number of prisoners who were taken exceeded more than the number of those who had been slain, yea, more than those who had been slain on both sides.
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| * Verse 1 [66 B.C]; Verse 15 [65 B.C.]; Verse 19 [64 B.C.]. | ||
and Mulek. The city of Bountiful B
is located upon the east coast in the land of Bountiful at the base of the
narrow neck of land. It guards the access route to the narrow passage
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coast leading into the land northward. Further down the coast from Bountiful
to the south and east lies the land and city of Mulek
M. It is also near the eastern sea
coast. Between the two cities and their lands is found a plains region. Along
the coast is a beach shoreline. And to the west inland from both the city of
Bountiful and Mulek there is forested wilderness
W. While the Book of Mormon does
not give adequate information to project precise relationships as to exact
distance, the general simple relationships of these features is helpful to
understand the military action which follows in this chapter.
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