Evidence #10 | September 19, 2020

Book of Mormon Evidence: Flashbacks in Mosiah 9–24

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Scripture Central

Abstract

The book of Mosiah contains two flashback sequences, both of which are skillfully executed.

Flashback Sequences in the book of Mosiah

The book of Mosiah contains two flashback sequences, one following close after the other. The first flashback starts in Mosiah 9, after a search party sent from Zarahemla (led by a man named Ammon1) meets up with King Limhi and his people. This flashback gives readers the backstory of Limhi’s people, recounting how Limhi’s grandfather Zeniff came to possess the land, how Limhi’s wicked father King Noah martyred the prophet Abinadi, and how Limhi himself ruled in righteousness but suffered oppression at the hands of the Lamanites. The flashback sequence ends in Mosiah 21:23, when it returns to the story of Ammon and explains why Limhi initially thought Ammon and his men were some of King Noah’s priests.

The second flashback sequence begins after Limhi and his people, with the aid of Ammon, returned to the land of Zarahemla (Mosiah 21:2322:16). It describes the aftermath of what happened to Alma and his followers, and how they—like the people of Limhi—eventually escaped to the land of Zarahemla. It also lets readers know what became of King Noah’s priests. This second flashback sequence can be seen as tying up some loose threads from the first flashback, while simultaneously offering a parallel narrative to the escape of Limhi’s people.

Complex Content, Smooth Transitions

Despite their complexity, these flashbacks are integrated rather seamlessly. For instance, Limhi’s short summary of his people’s history found in Mosiah 7 consistently agrees with details spread throughout the much lengthier flashback sequence that follows in Mosiah 9–21 (see Appendix). When the flashback resumes, it picks up right where it left off—discussing the discovery of a Jaredite record and Mosiah’s gift to translate, except this time from the perspective of King Limhi and his people (see Mosiah 21:24–28; cf. Mosiah 8:6–21).2

Although the second flashback, recorded in Mosiah 23–24, begins rather abruptly, it also picks up precisely where a narrative thread from the first flashback left off. At this point, the last readers have heard about Alma and his people is that they “were apprised of the coming of the king’s army; therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the wilderness” (Mosiah 18:34). The beginning of the flashback sequence reports this very event, adding that they were “warned of the Lord” (Mosiah 23:1).

Alma and his people escape from the Lamanites and the wicked priests of Noah (Mosiah 24:18–20). Image via ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

The conclusion of the second flashback sequence is also handled smoothly. Mormon reports that King Mosiah gathered his people together and “read the records of the people of Zeniff, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until they returned again. And he also read the account of Alma and his brethren, and all their afflictions, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time they returned again” (Mosiah 25:5–6). It becomes rather apparent at this point that Mormon intentionally used a flashback sequence to juxtapose these exodus narratives which are jointly addressed in Mosiah’s speech to his people.

Purposes

Together, these flashbacks fulfill a number of important narrative purposes, including at least the following:

  • They introduce readers to the origin of the book of Ether, recorded on 24 gold plates, which contained a history of the Jaredites.3
  • They record the prophecies of Abinadi, which are important to the Nephite nation for generations to come.
  • They introduce readers to Alma the Elder, who established a church and a lineage of prophets and leaders that become crucial to the Nephites and the history of the Book of Mormon. 

These flashbacks aren’t merely a creative way to tell a story. It seems, rather, that they establish the founding events that led up to the reign of the judges and the bulk of Nephite history that Mormon was about to record.

Conclusion

These non-linear narratives seem to have been well planned and skillfully executed. Careful analysis reveals the guiding hand of an expert historian who by carefully and selectively drawing upon and arranging content from various source texts, was able to tell both a historically accurate and religiously significant narrative. These flashbacks offer good examples of the Book of Mormon’s narrative complexity and textual consistency.

Further Reading
Relevant Scriptures
Appendix: Chart
Endnotes
Complexity
Narratives
Flashbacks (Mosiah 9–24)
Book of Mormon

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