Alma 55
Moroni Frees Captives
Alma 55:1–3
1 Now it came to pass that when Moroni had received this epistle he was more angry, because he knew that Ammoron had a perfect knowledge of his fraud; yea, he knew that Ammoron knew that it was not a just cause that had caused him to wage a war against the people of Nephi.
2 And he said: Behold, I will not exchange prisoners with Ammoron save he will withdraw his purpose, as I have stated in my epistle; for I will not grant unto him that he shall have any more power than what he hath got.
3 Behold, I know the place where the Lamanites do guard my people whom they have taken prisoners; and as Ammoron would not grant unto me mine epistle, behold, I will give unto him according to my words; yea, I will seek death among them until they shall sue for peace.
Mormon includes this story because it will turn out well for Moroni, but it should not be a model for our behavior. Mormon sent a letter that he should have known would incite anger, and when Ammoron responds in the same tone, Moroni decides to decline the prisoner exchange even though he got exactly what he wanted.
Moroni is reported as saying that he would not exchange prisoners unless Ammoron withdrew his purpose (verse 2). That purpose was to defeat the Nephites. Moroni surely would have known that Ammoron wouldn’t simply leave because Moroni asked him to. Moroni therefore seems to swear the same kind of oath that Ammoron had. Mormon says that “I will seek death among them until they shall sue for peace.”
Alma 55:4–7
4 And now it came to pass that when Moroni had said these words, he caused that a search should be made among his men, that perhaps he might find a man who was a descendant of Laman among them.
5 And it came to pass that they found one, whose name was Laman; and he was one of the servants of the king who was murdered by Amalickiah.
6 Now Moroni caused that Laman and a small number of his men should go forth unto the guards who were over the Nephites.
7 Now the Nephites were guarded in the city of Gid; therefore Moroni appointed Laman and caused that a small number of men should go with him.
Moroni knew where the prisoners were and decided to take them without an exchange. To do so, he creates a ruse that will make the process easier. What he requires is to “find a man who was a descendant of Laman.” He finds one who was one of the guards who had to flee when Amalickiah’s men killed the Lamanite king. The simplest reading of this ruse would be that Moroni was looking for someone who looked like a Lamanite and who had a dark skin.
The actual event proves the opposite. There was no visible difference between the Lamanite and the Nephites who went with him. If there were one dark-skinned man accompanied by several visibly “white” men, the ruse couldn’t have worked. It is therefore much more reasonable that what was needed was someone to speak in a language and perhaps an accent that would be convincing. Indeed, it was only the man named Laman who is depicted as speaking.
Alma 55:8–12
8 And when it was evening Laman went to the guards who were over the Nephites, and behold, they saw him coming and they hailed him; but he saith unto them: Fear not; behold, I am a Lamanite. Behold, we have escaped from the Nephites, and they sleep; and behold we have taken of their wine and brought with us.
9 Now when the Lamanites heard these words they received him with joy; and they said unto him: Give us of your wine, that we may drink; we are glad that ye have thus taken wine with you for we are weary.
10 But Laman said unto them: Let us keep of our wine till we go against the Nephites to battle. But this saying only made them more desirous to drink of the wine;
11 For, said they: We are weary, therefore let us take of the wine, and by and by we shall receive wine for our rations, which will strengthen us to go against the Nephites.
12 And Laman said unto them: You may do according to your desires.
The plan was to get the guards drunk, but critical to that plan was to make it their idea, and not Laman’s. Significantly, Laman tells the guards that he is a Lamanite and that he and those with him had escaped from the Nephites. There was no sufficient visible difference that caused the Lamanite guards to suspect that there was a ruse in place.
To help convince the guards, Laman does not immediately give them the wine, but suggests that it be kept for a future time. It is the guards who insist, and then Laman gives in, which is what he had planned to do all along.
In later Aztec culture, the official records suggest that they were a sober people that did not drink. The fact that there were so many laws and penalties, and even special words for drunkards, suggests that the ideal was that they would not drink intoxicating beverages; however, the reality was that drinking was often a real problem. Thus, the idea that the Lamanites might be tempted by the wine would not be foreign to that area of the world, despite some of the claims made in Aztec records that were intended to make them look good in a future Spanish conqueror’s eyes.
Alma 55:13–17
13 And it came to pass that they did take of the wine freely; and it was pleasant to their taste, therefore they took of it more freely; and it was strong, having been prepared in its strength.
14 And it came to pass they did drink and were merry, and by and by they were all drunken.
15 And now when Laman and his men saw that they were all drunken, and were in a deep sleep, they returned to Moroni and told him all the things that had happened.
16 And now this was according to the design of Moroni. And Moroni had prepared his men with weapons of war; and he went to the city Gid, while the Lamanites were in a deep sleep and drunken, and cast in weapons of war unto the prisoners, insomuch that they were all armed;
17 Yea, even to their women, and all those of their children, as many as were able to use a weapon of war, when Moroni had armed all those prisoners; and all those things were done in a profound silence.
Although the drunken guards were one of the lines of defense, there were clearly others. Moroni did not feel that he could bypass the drunken guards and safely remove the prisoners. He arranges to have weapons of war delivered to those captives in the city. This suggests that someone was able to scale the wall to get in and to know where to put the weapons, and to warn the Nephite prisoners that weapons were coming and that they should arm themselves and prepare.
Alma 55:18–22
18 But had they awakened the Lamanites, behold they were drunken and the Nephites could have slain them.
19 But behold, this was not the desire of Moroni; he did not delight in murder or bloodshed, but he delighted in the saving of his people from destruction; and for this cause he might not bring upon him injustice, he would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness.
20 But he had obtained his desires; for he had armed those prisoners of the Nephites who were within the wall of the city, and had given them power to gain possession of those parts which were within the walls.
21 And then he caused the men who were with him to withdraw a pace from them, and surround the armies of the Lamanites.
22 Now behold this was done in the night-time, so that when the Lamanites awoke in the morning they beheld that they were surrounded by the Nephites without, and that their prisoners were armed within.
Even though Mormon had vowed to “seek death among [the Lamanites] until they shall sue for peace” (verse 3), he does not kill the basically defenseless men. He has them surrounded when they come to in the morning and is therefore able to free the prisoners without bloodshed, and without exchanging Lamanite warriors for his Nephite families.
Alma 55:23–25
23 And thus they saw that the Nephites had power over them; and in these circumstances they found that it was not expedient that they should fight with the Nephites; therefore their chief captains demanded their weapons of war, and they brought them forth and cast them at the feet of the Nephites, pleading for mercy.
24 Now behold, this was the desire of Moroni. He took them prisoners of war, and took possession of the city, and caused that all the prisoners should be liberated, who were Nephites; and they did join the army of Moroni, and were a great strength to his army.
25 And it came to pass that he did cause the Lamanites, whom he had taken prisoners, that they should commence a labor in strengthening the fortifications round about the city Gid.
Having achieved his goal, Mormon tells what happened to two groups of people. All prisoners were freed, but those who were able joined Moroni’s army. The captured Lamanites were put to the task of strengthening the fortifications of the city of Gid, just as Lamanite captives had been forced to work on the cities of Lehi and Bountiful in the east.
Alma 55:26–28
26 And it came to pass that when he had fortified the city Gid, according to his desires, he caused that his prisoners should be taken to the city Bountiful; and he also guarded that city with an exceedingly strong force.
27 And it came to pass that they did, notwithstanding all the intrigues of the Lamanites, keep and protect all the prisoners whom they had taken, and also maintain all the ground and the advantage which they had retaken.
28 And it came to pass that the Nephites began again to be victorious, and to reclaim their rights and their privileges.
When these captives had finished with the city of Gid, they were sent north to Bountiful where the other prisoners were held. This placed the prisoners deep in Nephite territory where they could more easily be protected and where they were too far inside Nephite lands for the Lamanites to attempt to recover them.
For a while, Mormon is not interested in the specifics of the battles, only in noting that the Nephites slowly began to reconquer ground that they had prior to the Lamanite invasion.
Tides Turn in the Nephites’ Favor
Alma 55:29–32
29 Many times did the Lamanites attempt to encircle them about by night, but in these attempts they did lose many prisoners.
30 And many times did they attempt to administer of their wine to the Nephites, that they might destroy them with poison or with drunkenness.
31 But behold, the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in this their time of affliction. They could not be taken in their snares; yea, they would not partake of their wine, save they had first given to some of the Lamanite prisoners.
32 And they were thus cautious that no poison should be administered among them; for if their wine would poison a Lamanite it would also poison a Nephite; and thus they did try all their liquors.
When the Lamanites learned of Moroni’s defensive armor, they quickly copied it. They appear to have learned of the trick of getting guards drunk, for they also attempted to copy it. They attempted both intoxicating drinks and poison, but the Nephites had learned the same lesson. Therefore, they would not drink except that they tested it on a Lamanite prisoner. It may be assumed that the Nephites learned that the Lamanites had attempted to use poison because some of the prisoners who tested the “gifts” were poisoned, and probably died. Such ruses can work, but rarely more than once.
Alma 55:33–35
33 And now it came to pass that it was expedient for Moroni to make preparations to attack the city Morianton; for behold, the Lamanites had, by their labors, fortified the city Morianton until it had become an exceeding stronghold.
34 And they were continually bringing new forces into that city, and also new supplies of provisions.
35 And thus ended the twenty and ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
Having finished with the story of freeing the Nephite prisoners by ruse, Mormon returns to specifics of the push to recover Nephite lands. Moroni turns his attention to the city of Morianton. We had seen this land before when the people of that city had a land dispute with the people of Lehi2 and attempted to head north (see Alma 50:25–33). The city of Lehi had been fortified and was a strong Nephite holding. Morianton was close by, but it was held by the Lamanites. Moroni begins to push the Lamanites back south along the eastern coast.
There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition.
