These verses are the echo of 2 Nephi 5:23. The point of the verses is to indicate that the cursing is inclusive and continuous. This prohibition against intermarriage with the Lamanites continues from Nephi’s time through to Alma’s time. The prohibition continues to protect the Nephites from the false traditions.
Textual: The important question from the standpoint of the construction of the text is the nature of the dependence of these clearly parallel passages. To understand the possible connections of the sections, we need to understand the nature of the passages in Alma 3:6-10 (and on through 12). This text comes from Mormon. In the middle of Mormon’s description of the Amlicites Mormon takes a detour into Lamanite cursing. His reason for doing this is to associate the Amlicites with the Lamanite curse. He begins this train of thought in Alma 3:3, interjects the information on the cursing, and then returns to his point in Alma 3:13-14.
Since this is Mormon’s interjection, it is possible that he could be dependent directly upon 2 Nephi 5 since Mormon discovered those records and clearly read them (Words of Mormon1:1-5). It is unclear, however, if Mormon found those records before or after Alma was written, and the text in Words of Mormon has Mormon “finishing” his record with the small plate text (Words of Mormon 1:5).
The nature of the dependency is clarified for us in verses 14-17 below where Mormon cites his source directly. Mormon indicates that there is a specific prophecy of Nephi with which he is familiar, and he cites that prophecy to support his statement. The specifics of that prophecy do not match well enough with the text in 2 Nephi 5 to indicate that it was derived from that source. What we have are two independent records of Nephi’s prophetic statement concerning his brethren. There appears to be an “official” version that Mormon cites in verses 14-17, and the version is 2 Nephi 5 would be a less official version. Nephi does not couch that one in the precise form of a “word of the Lord” statement, but rather relates the word of the Lord. The literary structure of the two texts indicates a separate purpose, and therefore a separate transmission of the source.
What is important for our cultural understanding of the Nephites, however, is not that they kept a formal literary statement of the cultural division between themselves and the Lamanites, but that it was so engrained in the fabric of their culture that it persisted is a fairly tight form through nearly a thousand years of their history. This suggests that in addition to the textual transmission, there was a strong oral tradition as well. This “myth” of the cursing of the Lamanites was clearly retold to multiple generations, and creates the foundation of the tense relationships between the Nephites and the Lamanites.