Alma 9

(March 21, 2015)

                So many elements of the Book of Mormon linger just below the surface, and a big part of that is the continual conflict between the Mulekites and the Nephites.  Ammon first appears as a Mulekite name, and reappears only as a descendent of Mosiah-Benjamin-Mosiah (who, presumably, married a Mulekite as part of the joining of the people).  Thus it appears highly likely that Ammonihah was a Mulekite city.

                Read in this light, there is a great deal more going on in this chapter (and, indeed, in the entire Ammonihah saga).  This is a people ready to rebel politically and religiously because they look to a different history and culture than the dominant Nephites.  They see the Nephite faith and political organization to be interlopers – they were willing to accept Benjamin (probably half-Mulekite) and Mosiah (likely three-quarter Mulekite), but when the judges were introduced the power shifted wholly to the Nephites and away from the Mulekites…thus bringing about the conflicts that we see throughout Alma.