³⁰ Now the armies of the Lamanites, which had followed after the people of king Limhi, had been lost in the wilderness for many days. ³¹ And behold, they had found those priests of king Noah, in a place which they called Amulon; and they had begun to possess the land of Amulon and had begun to till the ground. ³² Now the name of the leader of those priests was Amulon. ³³ And it came to pass that Amulon did plead with the Lamanites; and he also sent forth their wives, who were the daughters of the Lamanites, to plead with their brethren, that they should not destroy their husbands. ³⁴ And the Lamanites had compassion on Amulon and his brethren, and did not destroy them, because of their wives. ³⁵ And Amulon and his brethren did join the Lamanites, and they were traveling in the wilderness in search of the land of Nephi when they discovered the land of Helam, which was possessed by Alma and his brethren.

Mosiah 23:30-35 (Emphasis mine)

Mormon inserts information after the Alma(1) had surrendered to the Lamanites.  We jump back in time a bit to learn about this Army.  He tells us that this is the army that searched for the people of Limhi.  He earlier recorded that the Lamanites “sent an army into the wilderness to pursue them; And after they had pursued them two days, they could no longer follow their tracks; therefore they were lost in the wilderness.” (Mosiah 22:15-16). 

While trying to find their way back, the Lamanites happened on to the people of Amulon.  Amulon was one of King Noah’s wicked priests.  After abandoning their families at the command of King Noah, we read that they found a place where daughters of the Lamanites met.  After hiding, they saw the daughters, “they came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness.” (Mosiah 20:5).

When they were found, they had much to fear from the army because they kidnapped these women.  S. Kent Brown writes:

“… [T]the army that discovered the settlement was well aware that these priests—known kidnappers—were deserving of death.  As a result, the priests did everything to escape being killed. The leader of the group, a man named Amulon, adopted a two-pronged approach. First, he himself ‘did plead with the Lamanites’ that they not destroy the members of the settlement. Then ‘he also sent forth their wives, who were the daughters of the Lamanites, to plead with their brethren, that they should not destroy their husbands’ (Mosiah 23:33). His own efforts seem to have failed. But the efforts of the women paid off: ‘And the Lamanites had compassion on Amulon and his brethren, and did not destroy them, because of their wives’  (Mosiah 23:34).  [Brown comments in a footnote:  ‘The successful pleading of the women continues a pattern found elsewhere in the Book of Mormon (see 1 Nephi 7:19 and Mosiah 19:13—15) that finds echoes in the exodus story (see Exodus 3:21—22 and 11:2—3). See Daube, Exodus Pattern, 55—61.’] … To all appearances, the wives were willing to intercede for their husbands. There was no visibly abusive compulsion on the part of the former priests, forcing the women to come forward and beg on their behalf in a demeaning way, an action that would surely have given the Lamanite soldiers an excuse to execute the husbands.

“However, negotiations also meant that the priests evidently were required to abandon their new settlement, to return to the homeland of the Lamanites, and to ‘join the Lamanites,’ although the text does not specify what this latter means (Mosiah 23:35).  The results for the priests were that they would keep both their lives and their wives—a decision not subsequently overturned by the Lamanite king because, afterward, he appointed Amulon to serve as a regent king over the colony of Alma, ‘his people’ (Mosiah 23:39).” [1]  (Emphasis mine)

³⁶ And it came to pass that the Lamanites promised unto Alma and his brethren, that if they would show them the way which led to the land of Nephi that they would grant unto them their lives and their liberty. ³⁷ But after Alma had shown them the way that led to the land of Nephi the Lamanites would not keep their promise; but they set guards round about the land of Helam, over Alma and his brethren. ³⁸ And the remainder of them went to the land of Nephi; and a part of them returned to the land of Helam, and also brought with them the wives and the children of the guards who had been left in the land. ³⁹ And the king of the Lamanites had granted unto Amulon that he should be a king and a ruler over his people, who were in the land of Helam; nevertheless he should have no power to do anything contrary to the will of the king of the Lamanites.

Mosiah 23:36-39 (Emphasis mine)

Mormon continues the story.  We find the reason that the Lamanites were so quick to agree to peace with Alma(1) was because they needed help finding their way home.  Hugh Nibley comments:

“The Lamanite armies that have pursued Limhi's people in the episode mentioned above ended up getting ‘lost in the wilderness for many days’ (Mosiah 23:30), and the same armies after joining up with another lost company, a band of refugee priests under Amulon, finally came upon Alma's people and begged them to ‘show them the way which led to the land of Nephi; (Mosiah 23:36). Such ignorance of the country by whole ‘armies’ that had been moving about in it for a long time can only mean that the Lamanites' own stamping grounds were far, far away.” [2] (Emphasis mine)

The Lamanites did not keep their word.  (Alma(1) probably didn’t have much choice in the matter.)  Guards were set around the land of Helam, and they were now captives of the Lamanites.

When preaching to the people of Zarahemla, Alma(2) would refer to this incident reminding the people that  later preaching “they were brought into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land, and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this land also.” (Alma 5:5). 

The Lamanite king also granted Amulon to be a king over the land of Helam.  Apparently the king didn’t have much confidence and trust in Amulon, because “he should have no power to do anything contrary to the will of the king of the Lamanites.”

The incidents of wars and such in this section of the Book of Mormon follow a pattern according to Todd Compton.

“The long middle section of the Book of Mormon chronicles a series of wars between Nephites and Lamanites, and would offer a great deal of scope for ‘cowboys-and-Indians’ stereotyping. Yet in these wars, when Lamanites attack the Nephites, it is often because ambitious Nephites have manipulated them into doing so. After the Nephites defeat Amlici and his army, he flees to the Lamanites and returns with a huge Lamanite army added to the remnants of his own (Alma 2:24). The wicked priests of King Noah intermarry with Lamanite women (Mosiah 20), and their leader, Amulon, becomes a satellite "king" under a chief Lamanite king (Mosiah 23:39). These wicked priests become teachers among the Lamanites (Mosiah 24:1, 4).” [3] (Emphasis mine)

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[1] Marriage and Treaty in the Book of Mormon: The Case of the Abducted Lamanite Daughters, S. Kent Brown, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 17, 2012.

[2] The Nature of Book of Mormon Society, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 17, 2012.

[3] The Spirituality of the Outcast in the Book of Mormon, Todd M. Compton, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 17, 2012.