Alma 17:18-30

We now follow Ammon on his missionary journeys.

18  Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them, and he departed from them, after having blessed them according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took their several journeys throughout the land.

19  And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land being called after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites.

Alma 17:18-19 (Emphasis mine)

We read that Ammon did play an important role.  Richard Dilworth Rust described it this way:  “Although Aaron appears to have been the eldest of the four, in their journey Ammon is their leader but still their servant … In their journey, the second son, Ammon, is their leader but still is their servant (he was ‘the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them’; Alma 17:18).” (Emphasis mine). 

His travels take him to the land of Ishmael.  Here he will be dealing with descendents of Ishmael.  John L. Sorenson wrote: 

“The tribe of the Ishmaelites also appears to have maintained some autonomy, according to the account of Lamoni, who was king of the people occupying ‘the land of Ishmael.’ The fact that the land was ‘called after the sons of Ishmael’ (Alma 17:19) suggests that Ishmaelite descendants predominantly occupied it or at least had originally done so. More explicitly, Lamoni is reported to have been ‘a descendant of Ishmael’ (Alma 17:21).”  (Emphasis mine)

20  And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and bound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure.

21  And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over the land of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of Ishmael.

Alma 17:20-21 (Emphasis mine)

It didn’t take long before Ammon was caught, tied up, and taken before the king to learn his fate.  I would think that this was something Ammon would have expected because there is no mention of his attempting to prevent capture.

22  And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.

23  And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.

Alma 17:22-23 (Emphasis mine)

The King’s question to Ammon (did he want to dwell among the Lamanites) seems a strange first question. There was, no doubt, more to the questioning of Ammon then this one question.  I believe that his questioning of Ammon finally led to this point.  Ammon gave him the response he wanted.

24  And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.

25  But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant.  Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni.  And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites.

Alma 17:24-25 (Emphasis mine)

We see just how pleased King Lamoni was with Ammon’s response.  He offered one of his daughters to him to take as a wife.

I would think that the King was surprised at his response.  I again turn to Richard Dilworth Rust:  “On arrival in Lamoni's court, Ammon, a king's son, declares his willingness to leave royalty behind him and ‘to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die’ (Alma 17:23). Offered the possibility of earthly reward (taking one of Lamoni's daughters to wife), Ammon opts instead to be the king's servant.” (Emphasis mine)

26  And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—

27  Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.

Alma 17:26-27 (Emphasis mine)

Hugh Nibley writes about this incident.

“It looks like it was a regular custom. So it was no secret to anyone; this was not an ambush but something to be expected. But the king's own flocks? How could they get away with that? Didn't he have enough men to protect them if this happened regularly? Well, for one thing the Lamanites played the game for sport; it was more than meat that they were after, for ‘they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king’ (Alma 17:35). They thought it was great sport.” (Emphasis mine)

Lecture 51: Alma 17-19, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 2, 2011.

So, here are these guys playing their “chase away the sheep” game.  It didn’t matter that they were playing with the King’s sheep. 

28  Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men.  And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.

29  Now they wept because of the fear of being slain.  Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow–servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow–servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words.

30  And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.

Alma 17:28-30 (Emphasis mine)

This had happened before.  We know this because the servants are convinced the King will slay them as he had others when this happened.  They were so upset, they were in tears.

Ammon was full of joy!  He knew this was a situation where he would be able to win the hearts of his servants.  This would help when he preached the gospel.

I again turn to the words of Hugh Nibley.

“What insanity is this, the king kills his own servants for losing a contest that had been acted out before? In fact, 'it was the practice of these Lamanites to stand by the waters of Sebus and scatter the flocks of the people,' keeping what they could for themselves, 'it being a practice of plunder among them' (Alma 18:7). . . . It should be clear that we are dealing with a sort of game; a regular practice, following certain rules. . . .” (Emphasis mine)

Appendix: Echoes and Evidences from the Writings of Hugh Nibley, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 2, 2011.

Unfortunately, Ammon was not in the mood to play.   He took his role as the King’s servant very seriously. 

We’ll read about his response in my next post.