Alma 17:17-30

17 Therefore they separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power of God which was given unto him.

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.

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.

21And 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 17:17-30

Having commented on the Lamanites, Mormon returns to the sons of Mosiah and their party.  We learn, while Aaron is older, Ammon is their leader.  Before they left, Ammon blessed them.  They all departed to begin their missions.

Mormon begins by focusing on the missionary efforts of Ammon.  He departed to the land of Ishmael.  The land was names after the sons of Ishmael, who followed Laman when the family went their separate ways. “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.”^[1]

As Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, he was captured and bound, as was their custom when dealing with the Nephites.  He was brought before the king.  The king could have him put to death, thrown into prison, remain in captivity,^[2] or cast out of the land. The king, Lamoni, was a descendant of Ishmael.  He began questioning him.  The first question was did he plan to settle among the Lamanites or his people?

Ammon impressed and pleased King Lamoni.  He had Ammon freed and then offered him one of his daughters as a wife.^[3] Ammon must have surprised the king.  He rejected the king’s offer.  He told Lamoni that he would rather become a servant for the king.  Ammon’s offer was accepted.

Ammon was assigned to watch over the king’s flocks.  Three days after he started, the flock was taken to the watering place.  All Lamanites brought their flocks to this place. 

There was what we could call a gang at the watering place.  They chased off the king’s flocks.  “The whole affair at the waters of Sebus must strike anyone as very strange; I always thought that it was rather silly until the other day when I gave it a moment's thought. All the Lamanites would drive their flocks to a particular watering place (Alma 17:26). And when they got there, ‘a certain number of Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and scattered the . . . [king's] flocks.’”^[4]

“…King Lamoni suffered from a band of rustlers who drove off the king's herds from the watering place. These were not a hostile group of outsiders, but some of his own subjects. Rather than work to assemble their herds, they used force (Alma 17:26-27). The use of violence against the Nephites may have legitimized plundering within Lamanite society…”^[5]

The servants began to weep.  King Lamoni had a practice of killing servants who allowed his flocks to be scattered, so they wept for their life.

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. . . . ^[6]

Ammon saw this as a great opportunity.  This gave him the chance to show them the powers the Lord had given him by restoring the flocks of the king.  He wanted to win the hearts of the other servants and they might believe his words.

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[1] Religious Groups and Movements among the Nephites, 200-1 B.C., John L. Sorenson, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 14, 2015.

[2] This would seem to imply a form of slavery.

[3] This raises a question.  Did King Lamoni know he was dealing with a son of a Nephite king?  Could this have been why the king was so positive and generous with Ammon?

[4] The Book of Mormon: Forty Years After, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 14, 2015.

[5] The Lamanite View of Book of Mormon History, Richard L. Bushman, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 14, 2015.

[6] Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon – Appendix: Echoes and Evidences from the Writings of Hugh Nibley, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 14, 2015.