Chapter 23
Religious freedom is
proclaimed—The Lamanites in seven lands and cities are converted—They call
themselves Anti-Nephi-Lehies and are freed from the curse—The Amalekites and
the Amulonites reject the truth. About 90–77 B.C.
1 Behold, now it came
to pass that the king of the Lamanites sent a proclamation among all his
people, that they should not lay their hands on Ammon, or Aaron, or Omner, or
Himni, nor either of their brethren who should go forth preaching the word of
God, in whatsoever place they should be, in any part of their land.
2 Yea, he sent a
decree among them, that they should not lay their hands on them to bind them,
or to cast them into prison; neither should they spit upon them, nor smite
them, nor cast them out of their synagogues, nor scourge them; neither should
they cast stones at them, but that they should have free access to their
houses, and also their temples, and their sanctuaries.
3 And thus they might
go forth and preach the word according to their desires, for the king had been
converted unto the Lord, and all his household; therefore he sent his
proclamation throughout the land unto his people, that the word of God might
have no obstruction, but that it might go forth throughout all the land, that
his people might be convinced concerning the wicked traditions of their
fathers, and that they might be convinced that they were all brethren, and that
they ought not to murder, nor to plunder, nor to steal, nor to commit adultery,
nor to commit any manner of wickedness.
4 And now it came to
pass that when the king had sent forth this proclamation, that Aaron and his
brethren went forth from city to city, and from one house of worship to
another, establishing churches, and consecrating priests and teachers
throughout the land among the Lamanites, to preach and to teach the word of God
among them; and thus they began to have great success.
5 And thousands were
brought to the knowledge of the Lord, yea, thousands were brought to believe in
the traditions of the Nephites; and they were taught the records and prophecies
which were handed down even to the present time.
6 And as sure as the
Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the
knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren,
according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God
working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of
the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord,
never did fall away.
7 For they became a
righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they
did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren.
8 Now, these are they
who were converted unto the Lord:
9 The people of the
Lamanites who were in the land of Ishmael;
10 And also of the
people of the Lamanites who were in the land of Middoni;
11 And also of the
people of the Lamanites who were in the city of Nephi;
12 And also of the
people of the Lamanites who were in the land of Shilom, and who were in the
land of Shemlon, and in the city of Lemuel, and in the city of Shimnilom.
13 And these are the
names of the cities of the Lamanites which were converted unto the Lord; and
these are they that laid down the weapons of their rebellion, yea, all their
weapons of war; and they were all Lamanites.
14 And the Amalekites
were not converted, save only one; neither were any of the Amulonites; but they
did harden their hearts, and also the hearts of the Lamanites in that part of
the land wheresoever they dwelt, yea, and all their villages and all their
cities.
15 Therefore, we have
named all the cities of the Lamanites in which they did repent and come to the
knowledge of the truth, and were converted.
16 And now it came to
pass that the king and those who were converted were desirous that they might
have a name, that thereby they might be distinguished from their brethren;
therefore the king consulted with Aaron and many of their priests, concerning
the name that they should take upon them, that they might be distinguished.
17 And it came to pass
that they called their names Anti-Nephi-Lehies; and they were called by this
name and were no more called Lamanites.
18 And they began to
be a very industrious people; yea, and they were friendly with the Nephites;
therefore, they did open a correspondence with them, and the curse of God did
no more follow them.
Alma 23:1-18
The proclamation[1]
was sent throughout Lamoni’s father’s land.
It was made clear they should not hinder the sons of Mosiah and their
brethren as they went throughout the land.
They were free to preach wherever they desired, anywhere in the land.
Then in Alma 23 the Lamanite king
pushes the church; he backs it up. He rules a very large area, you notice. As
we find out at the beginning of the next chapter, he rules the Amalekites, the
Amulonites, the Lamanites, and the people of Anti-Lehi-Nephi who were his own
people. The key to this whole thing is that those who were converted at this
time were a relatively small group, but very influential. Alma 23:1:
"The king of the Lamanites sent a proclamation among all his people that
they should not lay their hands on Ammon [or his people]" or make any
trouble, but let them do anything they wanted. The brethren were given a carte
blanche here to go forth and preach in whatsoever place they wanted to.[2]
The king granted them this authority as his entire household
had been converted.[3] They
would teach the traditions of their fathers was wrong. They convinced them they should not commit a
number of sins.
[King] Benjamin reports that he had
not allowed his people to do five specific criminal things: they were not to
"murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery … [nor] any manner of
wickedness" (Mosiah 2:13). This exact list appears several other times in
the Book of Mormon. In Alma 23:3, the converted Lamanite king issued a
proclamation that his people "ought not to murder, nor to plunder, nor to
steal, nor to commit adultery, nor to commit any manner of wickedness."
These words were evidently brought to the Lamanites by the four sons of Mosiah,
who, of all people, would have remembered and used the words of their
grandfather Benjamin.[4]
Aaron and his brethren went into the land of the Lamanites
and preached the gospel. Wherever they
went, they established churches and consecrated priests and teacher among the
Lamanites. “Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni—the four sons of Mosiah2—consecrated
priests among the Lamanites (Alma 23:4), but there is no reason, despite their
absence of fourteen years (Alma 17:4), to suppose that they did so independent
of the priesthood authority resident in the Nephite church. Later, Ammon at
least appears as an ecclesiastical subordinate to Alma2 (Alma
30:20, 30).”[5]
Going city-to-city is a common way the gospel is
taught.
“And it came to pass afterward,
that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad
tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him” (Luke 8:1).[6]
“Behold, verily I say unto you,
that it is my will that you should proclaim my gospel from land to land, and
from city to city, yea, in those regions round about where it has not been
proclaimed” (D&C 66:5).
“Yea, let all those take their
journey, as I have commanded them, going from house to house, and from village
to village, and from city to city” (D&C 75:18).
Through their missionary efforts, thousands were brought to
the truth of the gospel. They accepted
the traditions of the Nephites and were taught from Nephite records that had
been handed down since Nephi1.[7]
Here, Mormon relates the
conviction of the converted Lamanites.
“[A]s many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching were
converted unto the Lord, never did fall away” (Alma 23:6, emphasis mine).[8] They also laid down their weapons of war and
never again fought against the Nephites and Lamanites.
Ammon and his brethren found
success in the following lands:
Ishmael
Middoni
city of Nephi
Shilom
Shemlon
city of Lemuel
city of Shimnilom
In all these places, the
Lamanites laid down all weapons of war.
They did not find success among the Nephite dissenters, the
Amulonites[9]
and the Amalekites.[10] They also had no success with the Lamanites
in the same part of the land.[11]
The converted Lamanites desired to have a new name to
distinguish them from the rest of the Lamanites.
In the Book of Mormon, names have
importance and significance consistent with Israelite practices recorded in the
Old Testament (i.e., a name can be a memorial, an indication of change of
character, and a part of a covenant or an adoptive relationship.) The Israelite
concept that the term name (sām) also means memorial is
demonstrated in the passage when Helaman talks with his sons Nephi and Lehi
about their names. He tells them that they were given the names of their
forefathers so "that when you remember your names ye may remember them;
and when ye remember them ye may remember their works" (Helaman 5:6–7).
The Israelite idea that change of name shows a change of character is
demonstrated by the Lamanites who are converted to Christ and "were
desirous that they might have a name, that thereby they might be distinguished
from their brethren" (Alma 23:16).[12]
Lamoni’s father consulted with Aaron about the name they
should take.
When Ammon successfully converted
Lamoni and his people, it was necessary for them, and the Lamanites converted
by the other sons of Mosiah, to make significant changes in their lives. The
first step for the converted Lamanites was to call themselves
Anti-Nephi-Lehies, a name chosen after Lamoni's father, the king over all the
land, consulted with "Aaron and many of their priests" regarding a
name whereby "they might be distinguished from their brethren"
(see Alma 23:16–17).[13]
The Anti-Nephi-Lehies became and industrious people. They established relations with the Nephites
and their curse was lifted. Half a millennia earlier, Nephi saw this day would
come.
“And the gospel of Jesus Christ
shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the
knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which
was had among their fathers. And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know
that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of
darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not
pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people” (2
Nephi 30:5-6).
[1] “And
it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land,
amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions
round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west,
and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of
wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about
on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on
the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head
of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west—and thus were the
Lamanites and the Nephites divided” (Alma 22:27).
[2] Teachings
of the Book of Mormon – Semester 2, Lecture 53; Alma 23–27 – War, Maxwell
Institute, accessed June 14, 2015.
[3] “Now
this was done in the presence of the queen and many of the servants. And when they saw it they greatly marveled,
and began to fear. And the king stood
forth, and began to minister unto them.
And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his whole household were
converted unto the Lord” (Alma 22:23).
[4] King
Benjamin's Speech – Benjamin, the Man: His Place in Nephite History, John
W. Welch, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 14, 2015.
[5] Authority
in the Book of Mosiah, Daniel C. Peterson, Maxwell Institute, accessed June
14, 2015.
[6] “And
it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village,
preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: [JST Luke 8:1 ... and the twelve who were ordained of him, were with him]”(Luke
8:1).
[7] “Now
behold, all those engravings which were in the possession of [Helaman2]
were written and sent forth among the children of men throughout all the land,
save it were those parts which had been commanded by Alma should not go forth”
(Alma 63:12).
[8] “And
they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who
were of the church of God. And they were
also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they
were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the
faith of Christ, even unto the end” (Alma 27:27).
[9] “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” (Mosiah 23:31).
[10]
Save it be one (Alma 23 14).
[11] “Now,
among those who joined the people of the Lord, there were none who were
Amalekites or Amulonites, or who were of the order of Nehor, but they were
actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel” (Alma 24:29).
[12] The
Lord Will Redeem His People: Adoptive Covenant and Redemption in the Old
Testament and Book of Mormon, Jennifer Clark Lane, Maxwell Institute, accessed
June 14, 2015.
[13] Echoes
and Evidences of the Book of Mormon – From a Convert's Viewpoint, Alison
V.P. Coutts, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 14, 2015.
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