Rodney Turner notes that in Mosiah 11:5 we find that Noah "put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts." According to Turner, this was done according to precedent. Apparently, before leaving Zarahemla, Zeniff very likely had been ordained a high priest of the Melchizedek order. [Rodney Turner, "Two Prophets: Abinadi and Alma," in Studies in Scripture: Book of Mormon, Part 1, pp. 241, 257]
Question: If this is so, then why did not Limhi have any authority to consecrate righteous priests who could baptize? After the arrival of Ammon we find in Mosiah 21:32-33 that king Limhi and many of his people had "entered into a covenant with God" and "were desirous to be baptized; but there was none in the land that had authority from God." Yet even before this time we find in Mosiah 19:17 that Limhi was "a just man." Could it be that even though King Noah had been wicked, he did not directly confer kingship power to his son? and with the Priests of Noah also gone there became a void in direct-line authority? [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]