“Every Man Should Impart to the Support of the Widows and Their Children”

Brant Gardner

Verses 16 and 17 are probably causally connected. The ability to increase productivity with fewer able-bodied men would necessitate adjusted social roles. The women likely took on more responsibilities for farming and herding, naturally increasing the productivity of both. Obviously households without an able-bodied male were disadvantaged, even with the expanded labor of women and children, simply because there would have been fewer hands for the work. A widow might be able to grow corn, but she could not cultivate as much land as she and her husband could have done together.

Given these economic constraints, Limhi introduces a policy of communal sharing, somewhat similar to that described by Alma and his people. It is not necessarily a religious response (although religion provides a powerful motivation for such sharing). The reduced population means that individuals would have a greater number of contacts, better information about each person’s well-being, and obviously a greater need to share rather than create divisions based on the creation or distribution of life’s basic necessities.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3

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