The Know

The lengthy account of Alma leading a mission to the Zoramites holds “a crucial place in Mormon’s record of Nephites at Zarahemla” because it accents several messages Mormon seeks to convey.1 Mormon explained, “The Zoramites had gathered themselves together in a land which they called Antionum,” and “the Nephites greatly feared that the Zoramites would enter into a correspondence with the Lamanites, and that it would be the means of great loss on the part of the Nephites” (Alma 31:3–4).2

As Steven L. Olsen has observed, “Mormon attributes to Alma three motivations for his mission.” First, Alma “was, above all, concerned for the welfare of their souls” and hoped to help the Zoramites return to Christ. Second, because the Zoramites had separated themselves from the main body of Nephites, “the spirituality of the believers per se could not directly influence the Zoramites to return to righteousness. Their successful reconversion could result only from direct intervention” through missionary work. And finally, because of the fear that the Zoramites might enter into a correspondence with the Lamanites, “Alma’s mission was undertaken partly to prevent this unholy alliance.”3 Thus, Gregory Steven Dundas noted, this mission “was, in a peculiar way, a kind of substitute for war, even a means of heading off future wars.”4

It also becomes clear that Mormon sees this mission as a substitute for war in how he prefaces it. Specifically, he notes that “the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5). Alma, having lived through wars himself, knew that ultimately, only two things could prevent war: repentance and obedience to the commandments of God. In the ancient world, warfare was often viewed—especially by Mormon—as being brought upon a people by their disobedience to God, and Alma’s mission could have been an effort to prevent that from happening.5

In addition to illustrating the attempt to head off military conflict, the account of Alma’s mission emphasizes the important effort to establish true worship and prevent the the Zoramites from believing in and following false gods. According to Olsen, “Mormon selects and organizes material from the records of Alma’s mission to comment on the state of Nephite righteousness. He does so by means of a simple yet direct and systematic contrast between the worship of two groups, one apostate and the other faithful.”6 This is especially evident in the two prayers recorded in Alma 31.

The prayer on the Rameumptom, for instance, emphasizes the Zoramites’ pride and belief that they are naturally better than any other people.7 Indeed, pride is one of the sins that Alma specifically condemns in his own prayer, in which he also condemns the Zoramites’ false ideas about God and the nature of salvation (see Alma 31:27–29). Furthermore, the prayer of the Zoramites is heavily contrasted with Alma’s high priestly prayer that invokes true understandings of the Lord and that calls for humility and reliance on the Lord.8 Consequently, the Zoramites serve as a foil for readers to know the dangers of apostasy and forsaking their covenants.

Unfortunately, while Alma and his band of six other missionaries were successful in powerfully teaching many of the poor Zoramites, with the missionaries and all their converts were driven out of Antionum. John W. Welch notes, “While Alma may have won the skirmish against the Zoramites, thereby destroying their ‘craft’ (35:3), they may have [also] lost the larger battle.”9 Alma’s political apprehensions became a reality when the remainder of the Zoramites united forces with the Lamanites and began the series of wars recorded in the remainder of the book of Alma.

With all this in mind, Mormon may have strategically selected the Zoramite mission as a crucial turning point at the center of the book of Alma for several significant reasons. As Olsen observed, this mission “is located between extended accounts of relatively successful ecclesiastical and military missions (Alma 5–27, 43–62).”10 Though some people rejected the gospel or went to war against the Nephites, that the Lord protected His faithful people is clearly manifest throughout the book of Alma. This protection was available because those particular Nephites were righteous; such, however, would not always be the case.

Beginning in the book of Helaman and continuing through the first chapters of 3 Nephi, the Nephites drastically turned away from the Lord and even began to be more wicked than the Lamanites, a transformation foreshadowed at the end of the Zoramite ministry in Alma 35:15 because the Nephites, like the Zoramites, would forget the Lord. Olsen summarized, “By skillfully abridging the records of Alma’s mission, Mormon sets the stage for his account of the disintegration of Nephite society, which began with the wars brought on by dissent and apostasy and culminated in the natural disasters immediately preceding Christ’s visit to the promised land.”11

This type of foreshadowing is typical in ancient sacral histories. Eric C. Olson succinctly observed, “For the definitive telling of a sacred story this timing is ideal. One knows how the story ends and, with prophetic insight, one knows what part of the written record is relevant both to that ending and to the future audience.”12

The Why

The Zoramite mission highlights some of the key themes found throughout Mormon’s record. Mormon often warned his future readers against the effects of pride. Pride, throughout the Book of Mormon, invariably leads to contentions, hatred, and even war.13 President Ezra Taft Benson likewise warned against pride, stating that at its core it is, “enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen.”14 According to Mormon, pride is characterized also by an unwillingness to repent and an open rebellion against God—two clearly visible aspects of the unrepentant Zoramites’ attitude.15

Ultimately, the only thing that can help prevent the calamities of sin is the gospel of Jesus Christ. President Benson taught,

Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family.16

For this reason, Alma’s mission to the Zoramites is also of special import—readers can learn how to escape the cycle of pride and destruction by focusing on repentance, faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and helping other people.

The messages Alma and his companions shared in Alma 31–35 show us firsthand how to find peace in this life and in the life to come.

It is also worth noting here that trusting in God offers peace in all ways, a truth highlighted throughout the Book of Mormon and other ancient sacral histories. As Mormon’s record teaches, all problems—whether temporal, political, or spiritual—can ultimately be solved through reliance on God and obedience to His commandments. All modern people have a propensity to try to separate or compartmentalize these principles, but Mormon emphasizes one point above all else: only through Jesus Christ can problems truly be overcome, in this life and the next, and only through the gospel of Christ can true and lasting happiness be found. 

• 1. Steven L. Olsen, “Abridging the Records of the Zoramite Mission: Mormon as Historian,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 52 (2022): 184.
• 2. For a discussion on why this defection would be so disastrous, see Scripture Central, “Why Was the Zoramite Defection So Disastrous? (Alma 35:11),” KnoWhy 143 (July 14, 2016). A similar defection had almost occurred in Ammonihah, which would have also potentially been on Alma’s and Amulek’s minds at this time. See Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did an Angel Send Alma Back to Ammonihah? (Alma 8:17),” KnoWhy 565 (June 10, 2020).
• 3. Olsen, “Abridging the Records,” 184.
• 4. Gregory Steven Dundas, Mormon’s Record: The Historical Message of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2024), 354.
• 5. It should be noted that in Alma 35:15, Alma “grieved for the iniquity of his people” meriting further missionary efforts among his sons and among the Nephites as a whole. Because the Zoramites were wicked, they would ultimately be defeated in the wars recorded in Alma 43–61, but this same war would also serve to remind the Nephites to rely on the Lord. See Dundas, Mormon’s Record, 356.
• 6. Olsen, “Abridging the Records,” 187.
• 7. For a discussion on this topic, see Scripture Central, “How Is the Name Zoram Connected with Pride? (Alma 31:25),” KnoWhy 458 (August 14, 2018).
• 8. For a discussion on Alma’s prayer, see Scripture Central, “Why Did Alma Repeat the Lord’s Name Ten Times While in Prayer? (Alma 31:26),” KnoWhy 139 (July 8, 2016); John W. Welch Notes (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2020), 682–683.
• 9. Welch, John W. Welch Notes, 708.
• 10. Olsen, “Abridging the Records,” 184.
• 11. Olsen, “Abridging the Records,” 189.
• 12. Eric C. Olson, “The ‘Perfect Pattern’: The Book of Mormon as a Model for the Writing of Sacred History,” BYU Studies 31, no. 2 (1991): 15.
• 13. See Dundas, Mormon’s Record, 402.
• 14. Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” April 1989 general conference.
• 15. For more examples of this principle, see Dundas, Mormon’s Record, 405–408.
• 16. Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson (Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2014), 278.