Alma 55:13-23

¹³ And it came to pass that they did take of the wine freely; and it was pleasant to their taste, therefore they took of it more freely; and it was strong, having been prepared in its strength. ¹⁴ And it came to pass they did drink and were merry, and by and by they were all drunken.

¹⁵ And now when Laman and his men saw that they were all drunken, and were in a deep sleep, they returned to Moroni and told him all the things that had happened.

Alma 55:13 – 15 (Emphasis mine)

After the guards received the wine, it’s obvious what would occur next.  The guards began drinking the wine and they liked it, a lot.  So, they continued drinking and rapidly became drunk.  What is called a “deep sleep” was most likely them passing out from imbibing so much wine.

¹⁶ And now this was according to the design of Moroni.  And Moroni had prepared his men with weapons of war; and he went to the city Gid, while the Lamanites were in a deep sleep and drunken, and cast in weapons of war unto the prisoners, insomuch that they were all armed; ¹⁷ Yea, even to their women, and all those of their children, as many as were able to use a weapon of war, when Moroni had armed all those prisoners; and all those things were done in a profound silence.

¹⁸ But had they awakened the Lamanites, behold they were drunken and the Nephites could have slain them. ¹⁹ But behold, this was not the desire of Moroni; he did not delight in murder or bloodshed, but he delighted in the saving of his people from destruction; and for this cause he might not bring upon him injustice, he would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness.

Alma 55:16 – 19 (Emphasis mine)

Once again, we see Lamanite guards becoming drunk and passing out.  This will enable Nephites who were in bondage to escape.

“In several crucial encounters between the Nephites and the numerically superior Lamanites, the Lamanites simply fall asleep. Alma the Elder and his people are able to escape during the day because ‘the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites’ (Mosiah 24:19); Teancum is able to kill the dictator Amalickiah because sleep overpowers the fatigued Lamanites (Alma 51:33); Moroni captures the city Gid without loss of life "while the Lamanites [are] in a deep sleep and drunken" (Alma 55:16). Physical sleep also symbolizes a type of spiritual darkness.”[1]     (Emphasis mine)

Weapons were delivered to the prisoners in Gid until they were all armed.  The guards did not wake up.  Moroni(1) could have easily killed them as they slept.  If they woke up, he would have had real problems. 

Instead, we see Moroni(1), a man of war, a man who will fight and kill to defend his land, refused to kill these guards.  He “did not delight in murder or bloodshed, but he delighted in saving of his people from destruction.”  He “would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness.” Hugh Nibley explains, Moroni(1) “would not take advantage of those disgusting people who had done all manner of wicked things.”[2]

“Whenever they obtained reasonable advantage over their enemies, they were quick to disarm their enemies and cease the work of destruction (see Alma 43-44; 52:37­39). Moroni was repeatedly in a position to slay soldiers who had unjustly attacked his people, but instead he merely took them prisoner or offered generous terms of peace. For example, Nephite strategists whose men had surrounded drunken or sleeping Lamanite soldiers allowed the enemy to awake and surrender rather than slaughter them in their vulnerability (see Alma 55:18-24; 62:23-25).”[3] (Emphasis mine)

²⁰ But he had obtained his desires; for he had armed those prisoners of the Nephites who were within the wall of the city, and had given them power to gain possession of those parts which were within the walls. ²¹ And then he caused the men who were with him to withdraw a pace from them, and surround the armies of the Lamanites.

²² Now behold this was done in the night–time, so that when the Lamanites awoke in the morning they beheld that they were surrounded by the Nephites without, and that their prisoners were armed within. ²³ And thus they saw that the Nephites had power over them; and in these circumstances they found that it was not expedient that they should fight with the Nephites; therefore their chief captains demanded their weapons of war, and they brought them forth and cast them at the feet of the Nephites, pleading for mercy.

Alma 55:20 – 23 (Emphasis mine)

Throughout the night, the Nephite army armed the prisoners and then surrounded the armies of the Lamanites.  In the morning, the Lamanites awoke to a situation where they were surrounded by well-armed Nephites.

Their chief captain, realizing the hopelessness of their circumstances, collected the weapons of their soldiers, “and they brought them forth and cast them at the feet of the Nephites, pleading for mercy.”

“Note that Moroni is not only averse to shedding innocent blood, but is against the shedding of any blood at all. The guards when they came to readily handed over their weapons on order of their superiors, and pleaded for mercy; this ‘was the desire of Moroni,’ who promptly put them to work in the place of the prisoners they had just been guarding, and then had them transported to the main base at Bountiful (Alma 55:23—26).”[4] (Emphasis mine)

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[1] "Not Cast Off Forever" – Imagery, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 3, 2012.

[2] Exemplary Manhood, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 3, 2012.

[3] Law and War in the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 3, 2012.

[4] A Rigorous Test: Military History, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 3, 2012.