In chapter 46, we established the wickedness of
Amalickiah. In chapter 47, we get to see
his is a man that will let nothing get in his way of accomplishing what he
wants. His evil is a warning to us all.
Chapter 47
Amalickiah uses
treachery, murder, and intrigue to become king of the Lamanites—The Nephite
dissenters are more wicked and ferocious than the Lamanites. About 72 B.C.
We learned at the end of chapter 46, Amalickiah and some of
his army escaped. “And it came to pass
that Amalickiah fled with a small number of his men, and the remainder were
delivered up into the hands of Moroni and were taken back into the land of
Zarahemla” (Alma 46:33).
They fled to the land of Nephi. This is where Nephi and his followers
established their first settlement. “And
my people would that we should call the name of the place Nephi; wherefore, we
did call it Nephi” (2 Nephi 5:8).
The Nephites kept the land for over three centuries, but the
day came when they had to fee the land because of the Lamanites. “Behold, I am Amaleki, the son of
Abinadom. Behold, I will speak unto you
somewhat concerning Mosiah, who was made king over the land of Zarahemla; for
behold, he being warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the eland of Nephi, and as many
as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord should also depart out of the land
with him, into the wilderness” (Omni 1:12).
Moroni was concerned about an alliance between Amalickiah
and the Lamanites and tried to prevent it.
“Now Moroni thought it was not expedient that the Lamanites should have
any more strength; therefore he thought to cut off the people of Amalickiah, or
to take them and bring them back, and put Amalickiah to death; yea, for he knew
that he would stir up the Lamanites to anger against them, and cause them to
come to battle against them; and this he knew that Amalickiah would do that he
might obtain his purposes” (Alma 46:30).
Moroni’s concerns were realized. Amalickiah was successful at stirring up the
Lamanites. The Lamanite king sent out a proclamation gathering his people
together to go to war against the Nephites.
His people, on the other hand, were less than enthused. They remembered a previous war with the
Nephites. “Therefore when Zerahemnah saw
the men of Lehi on the east of the river Sidon, and the armies of Moroni on the
west of the river Sidon, that they were encircled about by the Nephites, they
were struck with terror. Now Moroni, when he saw their terror, commanded his
men that they should stop shedding their blood” (Alma 43:53-54).
Faced with choice of displeasing the king or losing their
lives in a battle against the Nephites, most refused to go to war.
The king became angry.
The king made a fatal mistake. He
gave command of his army of obedient Lamanites to Amalickiah. The army was sent to force the people to join
the army.
Unbeknownst to the king, Amalickiah had a devious plan. He
did not want the king’s assistance, he wanted to get rid of the king.
[A]t at many points [Mormon] goes
into considerable detail about obscure events and circumstances. A prime
example is the account of the assassination of the Lamanite rebel leader
Lehonti and of the Lamanite king, as told in Alma 47. It is unreasonable to
think that those anomalous scenes were ever recorded in such detail in the
official Nephite annals. We are not given as much as a hint of anyone who was
an eyewitness of those events and who might have relayed the story to a Nephite
record keeper … At times Mormon’s sources provide mysteriously detailed
information. We are left to infer that he had the advantage of writings by
unacknowledged participants whose records are very unlikely to have found a
place on the plates of Nephi. Obvious examples are the stories, as noted above,
of the assassination of both the Lamanite rebel leader Lehonti and the Lamanite
king, and related events (Alma 47).”[1]
Amalickiah took command of the Lamanites who favored the
king. He also sought to gain support of
the Lamanites who opposed the king. They
had fled to Onidah (a hill where Alma and Amulek taught the Zoramite poor – “Now,
as Alma was teaching and speaking unto the people upon the hill Onidah, there
came a great multitude unto him, who were those of whom we have been speaking,
of whom were poor in heart, because of their poverty as to the things of the world”
(Alma 32:4).
Those who refused to fight for the selected their own
king. They were prepared to do battle
with any army sent by the king to force them to fight the Nephites.
They didn’t know Amalickiah did not intend to fight. He was there to convince them to support him
as leader of their army. With this large
force, he intended to overthrow the king.
When the army arrived, he had them camp near the mount Antipas.
That night, a secret delegation was sent to the army on the
mount. They delivered Amalickiah’s request
to their king, Lehonti. He asked him to
come down and speak with him.
Lehonti apparently did not trust Amalickiah. He refused his request to meet. Two more times he sent his delegation to pass
on his request. Two more times Lehonti refused. A fourth time the delegation
was sent. This time, he told him he
could bring his guards with him. Lehonti agreed.
Amalickiah made him an offer. Lehonti was to bring his army down, surround
his, and he would surrender his army to him. The condition was Lehonti make him his second
in command.
Lehonti agreed and surrounded Amalickiah’s army. Seeing they were surrounded, his army plead
with him to surrender and save their lives.
He surrendered his army in violation of the king’s command.
Amalickiah then began the second part of his plan. Lamanite tradition was if a chief leader was
killed, his second in command would become the chief leader. Amalickiah had one of his servants to slowly
poison Lehonti. Eventually, he died and
Amalickiah became leader of the army.
[1] Mormon’s
Sources, John L. Sorenson, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other
Restoration Scripture 20/2 (2011): 4, 10.
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