Mormon 6
The Destruction of the Nephites
Mormon 6:1
1 And now I finish my record concerning the destruction of my people, the Nephites. And it came to pass that we did march forth before the Lamanites.
Comments
This verse did not begin a new chapter in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. It was a logical break because it moved from Mormon’s personal interjection about his purposes in writing to the continuation of his story.
In context, this verse served that exact function. Mormon’s comments were technically out of place in his narrative, and therefore he needed to return to his planned history. He does it by recognizing that he had moved away from the text and needs to move back to the planned narrative.
Mormon 6:2–5
2 And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle unto the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant unto us that we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle.
3 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites did grant unto me the thing which I desired.
4 And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites.
5 And when three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away, we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah.
Comments
Verse 2 explains that Mormon wrote a letter to the enemy king requesting permission to gather together in the land of Cumorah. Mormon must have believed that it would be a final battle, and the king likely agreed that it would be the final battle. Therefore, the king granted the request.
Even though Mormon had noted that the nature of warfare was becoming more destructive (particularly toward the women and children who were taken captive to be sacrificed), there were still rules of warfare. One of them allowed for battles that were scheduled. Thus, neither the request nor the granting of the request would have been out of place in a historical context, particularly a Mesoamerican context.
In the Nephite year three hundred and eighty-four the Nephites were gathered in Cumorah, and the end was officially beginning.
Mormon 6:6
6 And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni.
Comments
Mormon had retrieved the Nephite archive from the hill Shim so that he would have access to it, and so it would not be lost to the rapidly advancing Lamanite armies. That condition was being repeated, but in a much worse way, in Cumorah.
Mormon knew that they were involved in “the last struggle of [his] people.” Therefore, he was again concerned for the safety of the Nephite archive. There was nowhere to take it, therefore, he “hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to [him] by the hand of the Lord.” His desperate hope was that they would be safe, “for the Lamanites would destroy them.”
The important part of this act of preservation is the final phrase where he gave “a few plates” to his son Moroni. Those “few plates” were those containing The Book of Mormon. They were not buried in Cumorah but were given into Moroni’s care. They were not immediately handed over, however, as Mormon continued to write in them after the final battle. Then, Moroni wrote additions to Mormon’s record, consisting of Mormon 8–9, the book of Ether, and the book of Moroni. Clearly, Moroni did as he was asked and kept the plates. They certainly were not among those already buried in Cumorah. In his own book, Moroni notes that he was continuing to write long after the end of the Nephites at Cumorah (Moroni 1:1, 4).
Thus, there is no record that Mormon’s plates were ever in the Nephite Hill Cumorah. Moroni possessed them in his wanderings some thirty-six years later (Moroni 10:1). While it is possible that he returned from wherever he had found safety, to bury the plates in a hill now occupied by an enemy that had sworn to kill him, it does not seem likely. The plates were certainly preserved in a hill, one to which Joseph Smith had easy access when the Lord’s time was right for the record to come forth.
Mormon 6:7–10
7 And it came to pass that my people, with their wives and their children, did now behold the armies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them.
8 And it came to pass that they came to battle against us, and every soul was filled with terror because of the greatness of their numbers.
9 And it came to pass that they did fall upon my people with the sword, and with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the ax, and with all manner of weapons of war.
10 And it came to pass that my men were hewn down, yea, even my ten thousand who were with me, and I fell wounded in the midst; and they passed by me that they did not put an end to my life.
Comments
Mormon had been correct that this was the last battle. He had chosen a location that gave him the best possible defensive position, but to no avail. The numbers assembled against him and his people were too great. Even though the hill was defensible, it was not described as having fortifications. Thus, terrain alone was the advantage.
The people fell before the onslaught. Mormon fell, and escaped death only because he already appeared to be dead.
Mormon 6:11–15
11 And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people, did behold on the morrow, when the Lamanites had returned unto their camps, from the top of the hill Cumorah, the ten thousand of my people who were hewn down, being led in the front by me.
12 And we also beheld the ten thousand of my people who were led by my son Moroni.
13 And behold, the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, and he also in the midst.
14 And Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Gilgal had fallen with his ten thousand; and Limhah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Jeneum had fallen with his ten thousand; and Cumenihah, and Moronihah, and Antionum, and Shiblom, and Shem, and Josh, had fallen with their ten thousand each.
15 And it came to pass that there were ten more who did fall by the sword, with their ten thousand each; yea, even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me, and also a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had deserted over unto the Lamanites, had fallen; and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.
Comments
Mormon lists the numbers of the dead. They are large numbers. There were certainly large numbers of Nephites, but ancient records often inflated numbers that could not be counted. With only twenty-four remaining Nephites, they surely did not count each fallen body. They had no science of estimates. What they did have, however, was military units. Thus, “Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Gilgal had fallen with his ten thousand,” etc. These were military units that were of a proscribed number, but the reality could have been less than that number. Aztec military units consisted of eight thousand warriors. They used a base-20 counting system and therefore, what we see as an unusual number was, for them, very similar to a base-10 count of ten thousand.
Mormon notes that only twenty-four survived. However, that was not the total number of survivors, for there were “a few who had deserted over unto the Lamanites.” That “few,” might have been a much larger number.
The importance of this level of destruction is to highlight that this was a different type of war. It was a war of annihilation, not of acquisition of territory. As previously noted, these are expensive types of wars, and there had to have been some force that made it worth the cost. Book of Mormon scholars assume that it was the trade route between Teotihuacan and the Maya kingdoms.
Mormon Laments the Fallen
Mormon 6:16–20
16 And my soul was rent with anguish, because of the slain of my people, and I cried:
17 O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!
18 Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss.
19 O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen!
20 But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.
Comments
When the Nephites had been righteous, they were “white and delightsome.” They had become “dark and loathsome” through their refusal to obey the commandments. It was for that previous generation, and the lost opportunities of the current generation, that Mormon laments. They could have been among the fair ones, but “have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive [them].”
An intriguing possibility is that the name Nephi also meant “good, fair.” Thus, this repetition of “O ye fair ones” may have been a more literary play on the meaning behind the term Nephite.
Mormon 6:21–22
21 And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible bodies; and then ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to be judged according to your works; and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you.
22 O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, knoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy.
Comments
Mormon lamented the massive Nephite deaths in verses 17–20 of this chapter. He ends by lamenting that their fate may be even worse than death. Now that they have died, they must stand before the very Christ whom they had rejected, “to be judges according to [their] works.”
Therefore, Mormon exclaims: “O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you!”
This is not the end of a chapter in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon.
