“Fifth Year of the Reign of the Judges”

Hugh Nibley notes that "all these wars and contentions [with the Amlicites and the Lamanites] were commenced and ended" all in one year, "the fifth year of the reign of the judges" (Alma 3:25). The reader should remember that only five years previous to this, king Mosiah₂ (as the outgoing king) and Alma₂ (as the new chief judge) had founded [what appeared to be] a model community (Mosiah 29:40-42). [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, p. 251]