Mormon 4
Nephites and Lamanites Continue to Battle
Mormon 4:1–3
1 And now it came to pass that in the three hundred and sixty and third year the Nephites did go up with their armies to battle against the Lamanites, out of the land Desolation.
2 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites were driven back again to the land of Desolation. And while they were yet weary, a fresh army of the Lamanites did come upon them; and they had a sore battle, insomuch that the Lamanites did take possession of the city Desolation, and did slay many of the Nephites, and did take many prisoners.
3 And the remainder did flee and join the inhabitants of the city Teancum. Now the city Teancum lay in the borders by the seashore; and it was also near the city Desolation.
Comments
Mormon had declined to lead the Nephite armies because they had begun to believe that they were strong enough to go on the attack. Without Mormon to attempt to deter them, they did attack, leaving their stronghold and moving into the land southward.
Mormon had been correct. They were defeated and driven back to the point where they lost an important defensive city near the narrow neck. At this point in his story, Mormon is repeatedly describing the Nephites in the land of Desolation, and even that they had a city called Desolation. He is declaring that the Nephites are now in both the physical and spiritual place that caused the destruction of the Jaredites, and which will lead to their own destruction.
Mormon 4:4–5
4 And it was because the armies of the Nephites went up unto the Lamanites that they began to be smitten; for were it not for that, the Lamanites could have had no power over them.
5 But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed.
Comments
Mormon specifically blames the Nephite defeat on their eagerness to take the war to the enemy. This might be a reiteration of the Nephite preference to avoid wars of aggression, as indicated in Alma 43:47: “And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.”
It may also have had to do with the strength of their defensive position, which was lost, if they left it to attach a stronger army. Perhaps it was both reasons. Ultimately, Mormon blames the defeats on Nephite wickedness.
Mormon 4:6–9
6 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did make preparations to come against the city Teancum.
7 And it came to pass in the three hundred and sixty and fourth year the Lamanites did come against the city Teancum, that they might take possession of the city Teancum also.
8 And it came to pass that they were repulsed and driven back by the Nephites. And when the Nephites saw that they had driven the Lamanites they did again boast of their own strength; and they went forth in their own might, and took possession again of the city Desolation.
9 And now all these things had been done, and there had been thousands slain on both sides, both the Nephites and the Lamanites.
Comments
With a foothold in the city of Desolation, the Lamanites prepare to push on to the next city in line, the city of Teancum. This time, however, they are the ones who were beaten back, and they lose the city of Desolation as well. It was a Nephite victory, but a costly one; “there had been thousands slain on both sides.”
Mormon 4:10–13
10 And it came to pass that the three hundred and sixty and sixth year had passed away, and the Lamanites came again upon the Nephites to battle; and yet the Nephites repented not of the evil they had done, but persisted in their wickedness continually.
11 And it is impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the people, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites; and every heart was hardened, so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually.
12 And there never had been so great wickedness among all the children of Lehi, nor even among all the house of Israel, according to the words of the Lord, as was among this people.
13 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did take possession of the city Desolation, and this because their number did exceed the number of the Nephites.
Comments
The Nephite victory was short-lived. The Lamanites return and this time force the Nephites from both the cities of Desolation and Teancum. It was a terrible battle: “It is impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the people.” Fortunately, Mormon leaves it at that and does not attempt to further horrify his readers with actual descriptions of the awful carnage.
Mormon 4:14
14 And they did also march forward against the city Teancum, and did drive the inhabitants forth out of her, and did take many prisoners both women and children, and did offer them up as sacrifices unto their idol gods.
Comments
This war appears to be worse than any previously fought in Nephite history. In particular, Mormon notes that the opposing army of Gadianton-infested Lamanites “did take many prisoners both women and children, and did offer them up as sacrifices unto their idol gods.”
In a Mesoamerican context, this comment fits, but is worth a note. It was not unusual in Mesoamerican warfare to take opposing warriors as prisoners, and to sacrifice them. That was probably happening in many of the wars between Lamanites and Nephites. It was sufficiently common that it was not worth mentioning, a cultural assumption that Mormon didn’t believe it necessary to explain. However, it was necessary to explain that now women and children were being taken as sacrifices.
Mormon appears to be suggesting that warfare is changing, and the cultural rules for acceptable ways to wage war were also shifting. It had not been common to take women and children, but now they were being taken. Even worse, they were sacrificed to foreign gods. It was an unspeakable crime. Mormon’s plausible purpose in relating this goes beyond the need to report history. It was an indication of the shift in the nature of warfare. All the rules were being destroyed along with civilization.
Although not specifically associated with sacrificing captured women and children, it is notable that Teotihuacan is credited with altering the nature of Mesoamerican warfare and introducing a more deadly aspect than had been previously known.
Mormon 4:15–18
15 And it came to pass that in the three hundred and sixty and seventh year, the Nephites being angry because the Lamanites had sacrificed their women and their children, that they did go against the Lamanites with exceedingly great anger, insomuch that they did beat again the Lamanites, and drive them out of their lands.
16 And the Lamanites did not come again against the Nephites until the three hundred and seventy and fifth year.
17 And in this year they did come down against the Nephites with all their powers; and they were not numbered because of the greatness of their number.
18 And from this time forth did the Nephites gain no power over the Lamanites, but began to be swept off by them even as a dew before the sun.
Comments
The change in the rules of warfare that allowed the Gadianton-infused Lamanites to take women and children captives to use as sacrifices understandably angered the Nephites. That anger led them to a fierce attack that temporarily pushed the Lamanites back. The victory didn’t last long. This time, the Lamanites arrived with such overwhelming force that the Nephites could not stand before them.
Mormon 4:19–22
19 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did come down against the city Desolation; and there was an exceedingly sore battle fought in the land Desolation, in the which they did beat the Nephites.
20 And they fled again from before them, and they came to the city Boaz; and there they did stand against the Lamanites with exceeding boldness, insomuch that the Lamanites did not beat them until they had come again the second time.
21 And when they had come the second time, the Nephites were driven and slaughtered with an exceedingly great slaughter; their women and their children were again sacrificed unto idols.
22 And it came to pass that the Nephites did again flee from before them, taking all the inhabitants with them, both in towns and villages.
Comments
The futile nature of Nephite resistance is beginning to show. There had always been more Lamanites than Nephites. This situation wasn’t due to lineal Lamanites having more children, but the fact that the label Lamanite indicated anyone who was not Nephite. There were many more Lamanites, and many other cultures that hadn’t had any interaction with any lineal descendants of Lehi1.
The Nephites still fought hard. They were fighting for their families and lives. They were still losing. After a brief victory at Boaz, the Lamanites come against them again. Not only do warriors lose their lives, but again women and children are taken to become sacrifices.
Mormon Returns to the Place of the Final Battles
Mormon 4:23
23 And now I, Mormon, seeing that the Lamanites were about to overthrow the land, therefore I did go to the hill Shim, and did take up all the records which Ammaron had hid up unto the Lord.
Comments
At this point, it had become clear that the Nephites were not going to be able to hold on to many of their lands. Mormon understands that the Nephite archive in the hill Shim was threatened. Mormon had been to the hill, as commanded, and had removed the Nephite record he was writing on. That single collection of plates was not the whole of the archive. It could not have been. There had been nearly a thousand years of Nephite history, and they had to have been written on many sets of plates.
Words of Mormon 1:3 describes Mormon searching through records to find the rest of the reign of Benjamin, only to find a set of plates (which we know as the small plates) which he had not known were there. If there had only been a couple sets of plates, that explanation would make no sense. There was a large archive of records. They were under threat. Mormon retrieves all of them from the hill Shim.
This event is critical for understanding when and how Mormon created the Book of Mormon. It was an abridgement of all of Nephite history, and history that wasn’t even available to him until after he removed these records from the hill Shim. Therefore, the conception to write the Book of Mormon, and the source materials used to write it, were not available before this time, sometime after the defeat at Boaz.
This ends a chapter in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon.
