Mosiah 4-6

BOOK OF MOSIAH

King Benjamin’s sermon, which appears at the beginning of the book, happens after most of the events in the book. In particular, Abinadi’s sermon to King Noah, the other major sermons in the book, actually occurred many years earlier.

Immediately after King Benjamin’s sermon, we read about the end of King Limhi’s (Nephite descendant) story, as a search party led by Ammon (Zarahemla descendant) discovers them in chapters seven and eight.

We then rewind to understand the history (Zenniff leaves Zarahmela to find the land of Lehi-Nephi) which led to the captivity of Limhi and his people. After reading about Limhi’s captivity for the second time (chapters 19-22), we rewind briefly again, to learn about the parallel captivity of Alma and his people (in chapters 23-24).

Finally, everyone comes together again in chapter 25, which actually occurs only a few years after King Benjamin’s sermon.

SEEING THE THEMES OF THE BOOK OF MOSIAH

One of the most noticeable themes in Mosiah is deliverance, which takes several forms. There are instances of physical deliverance for entire communities, as when the peoples of Limhi and Alma were freed from Lamanite bondage and of spiritual deliverance for groups like Benjamin’s subjects who received a remission of their sins and peace of conscience and also for individuals such as Alma. Yet while the overall message of God’s tender mercies is clear, the book of Mosiah is not naively didactic. It includes accounts of wicked people who escape the consequence of their sins, at least for a while (King Noah and his priests), and innocent or good people who are not spared trial and suffering. These include Abiniadi, the daughters of the Lamanites and again, the people of Alma.

Grant Hardy, The Annotated Book of Mormon, pg. 228

HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ZARAHEMLA

A pattern to notice is that Mormon streamlines Nephite history, apparently in an effort to shape reader responses. Specifically, he reduces the story of three peoples—Mulekites, Nephites and Lamanites—to just the latter two, thus avoiding any discussion of distinct Mulekite traditions, customs, or sensibilities. Amaleki reported that a few Nephite refugees, led by Mosiah, had discovered a city of Juahites who had come to the New World some 350 years earlier, shortly after the arrival of Lehi. They were ruled by Zarahemla and they no longer spoke Hebrew, having brought no written record. Zarahemla and his people were thrilled to learn of the Brass Plates, and indeed learned the language the Nephites and invited Mosiah to become their king. It is a strange turn of events that invites further explanation, which Mormon never provides.

Instead, there are brief references to the Nephites and the people of Zarahemla continuing to be separate but allied peoples for at least three generations, with the latter greatly outnumbering the former. In Mosiah 25, Zarahemla is identified as a descendent of Mulek, and then in Helaman 6 there is a stunning revelation noted only in passing: “the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah [the last kind of Judah]; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south.” This means that Zarahemla belonged to the royal line of David, and thus would have had a legitimate claim to the throne of Juhah according to the Davidic covenant, as preserved in the Nephites’ Brass Plates.

It is reasonable to assume that a few priests would have accompanied Mulek, son of King Zedekiah when his party was led by God to the New World.

Grant Hardy, The Annotated Book of Mormon, pg. 222

GATHERING AT THE TEMPLE

The description of the event has families coming to the temple and surrounding the area while they stayed in their tents. Scholars have suggested that this is sufficiently similar to the Feast of Tabernacles, that it may have been that holy day that king Benjamin used as the springboard for his abdication.

The Feast of Tabernacles looked back to Yahweh’s protection while Israel wandered in the wilderness. The tents, or booths, represented temporary dwellings meant to invoke that time. The idea that families would be together in them fits with the nature of the festival.

An interesting possibility is that while the festival looked backward, it may have also signaled a looking forward to a future time of salvation by Yahweh, a time of a future Messiah. In the New Testament, John 7:37–38, Jesus uses the great feast day to preach of himself as the living water, declaring himself the Messiah.

If there was such a tangential understanding that the feast would look forward to the Messiah, it makes an even stronger platform for the subject of king Benjamin’s speech.

Grant Hardy, https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/mosiah-2

LESSONS FROM THE BEGGAR

The Book of Mormon establishes social equality as an ideal. This is not social equalness. There is no suggestion that all people are the same, only that we should not act as though we are superior to others. The damage is not in the difference, but in the attitude of separation. Therefore, Benjamin notes that if one does not share his or her substance because of selfishness, their “substance shall perish with [them].” Of course, that is true of all, but the point is that when one thinks of oneself as valuable because of their possessions, when they leave those possessions behind in death, there is nothing left of value because of the poverty of character.

Grant Hardy, https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/mosiah-4