Alma 24:13-30

13 Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if we should stain our swords again they can no more be washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins.

14 And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations.

15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.

16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved.

17 And now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they did bury them up deep in the earth.

18 And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their own lives; and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.

19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.

20 And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place another in his stead, and also of destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land.

21 Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword.

22 And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God.

23 Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword—

24 Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done.

25 And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.

26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved.

27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.

28 Now the greatest number of those of the Lamanites who slew so many of their brethren were Amalekites and Amulonites, the greatest number of whom were after the order of the Nehors.

29 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.

30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things. (Alma 24:13-30)

King Lamoni’s father has told his people their swords are bright, the blood which stained them having been removed. Having obtained forgiveness, they must keep their swords bright and never again stain them with blood. “But if he doeth it again, he shall not be forgiven, but shall be cast out” (D&C 42:26).

It may be, should they again stain their swords, they will no longer be washed bright through Christ’s atonement. “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5).

“This was a reasonable fear. The Ammonites were a people who had been motivated by hatred and who had committed murder in both aggressive, large-scale wars and in attempts to plunder gold and silver from the Nephites. Yet despite this history of violence, they had won forgiveness (Alma 24:10–13). Given the harsh reality of their past, and given the difficulty of receiving forgiveness for such sins … it is not surprising that they felt the need to maintain this forgiveness by repudiating not only murder, but also anything even resembling it. Thus their repudiation of shedding any blood whatsoever, under any conceivable circumstances.”[1]

God has had mercy on them. These things were taught to them to prevent them from losing their souls. Through His mercy, they have the plan of salvation for themselves and future generations.

To keep from using their swords again, staining them with blood, he called on his people to hide them. This would be a testimony to God, when standing before Him to be judged, they had never stained their swords since they received His words, making them clean.

We will later read this is what they did.

“And they did also bury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had, and they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes” (Alma 25:14).

“For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren” (Alma 26:32).

“The converted Lamanites had something to prove to themselves before God in their religious devotion, as their earlier king had expressed when urging his converted people to bury their weapons as a testimony before God of their repentance (see Alma 24:15). This fits the sociological patterns of new religious converts in any time: deeply committed but somewhat insecure in their new identity, anxious to prove themselves both to themselves and to others, and seeking for stability amidst the instability of change.”[2]

If, after having buried their weapons, others come and destroy them “we shall go to our God and shall be saved” (Alma 24:16).

The people agreed to bury their weapons. “And ye know also that they have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their faith in Christ” (Helaman 15:9).

“Symbolically, the blood of Christ has removed the blood from their swords, thus cleansing the repentant Lamanites. By fully accepting Christ’s shedding his blood for them, they no longer will shed the blood of their brethren. The token of that pledge, the king proposes, is to bury their swords deep in the earth as a testimony at the last day that they have never used them. The people make this covenant with God by assembling ‘all the weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood’ and burying them deep in the earth (Alma 24:17). The figurative power of the sermon finds completion in symbolic action by a converted people.”[3]

Mormon breaks his narrative to make a point. “And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace” (Alma 24:19).

Those who opposed the Anti-Nephi-Lehies began to prepare to go to war. They intended to kill the king and replace him with one who was supportive of them. They also wanted to remove them from their land.

The day came when the Lamanite army attacked. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies went out to meet them, laying on the ground and praying to the Lord.

When the armies arrived, they began to kill them. With no resistance they murdered 1,005. Mormon reminds us, “we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God” (Alma 24:22).

“[W]hen we read of the atrocities encountered by the missionary sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites-including the slaughter of the 1,005 Anti-Nephi-Lehies (see Alma 24:21–22)-perhaps we will be more likely to notice that Alma’s mention of the true villains is in line with the book’s structure: ‘The greatest number of those of the Lamanites who slew so many of their brethren were Amalekites [Amlicites] and Amulonites, the greatest number of whom were after the order of the Nehors.’ And among the converts to the truth ‘were none who were Amalekites [Amlicites] or Amulonites, or who were of the order of Nehor, but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel’ (Alma 24:28–29).”[4]

When the Lamanite part of the army saw they would not fight, they did not slay them. Many repented of what they had done. They threw down their arms, and refused to take them again. “[T]hey were stung for the murders which they had committed” (Alma 24:25).

In the end, more joined with them than were murdered. None of them were Amalekites nor Amulonites. Those who joined were descendants of Laman and Lemuel.

“And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things” (Alma 24:30). 

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[1] Were the Ammonites Pacifists? Duane Boyce, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 18/1 (2009): 42.

[2] Samuel’s Reliance on Biblical Language, Shon Hopkin and John Hilton III,  Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 24 (2015): 34.

[3] Were the Ammonites Pacifists? Duane Boyce, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 18/1 (2009): 39.

[4] Alma’s Enemies: The Case of the Lamanites, Amlicites, and Mysterious Amalekites, J. Christopher Conkling, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14/1 (2005): 114.