Rhetoric: Amulek challenges his listeners’ understanding by making a statement, then directly contradicting it: “I mistake.… ” There are two possible reasons for this contradictory information. First, he really may have made a slip of the tongue, or, second, he is making an intentional contradiction as a rhetorical device.
The first option is certainly an easy possibility in oral discourse. In this case, Amulek meant to say, “I have known much of the ways of the Lord… ” and “not” slipped in, based on his knowledge that he had not always been a believer. However, I find the second possibility more likely, given that this discourse was transcribed and, hence, the redactor had ample opportunity to erase a confusing slip of the tongue. Indeed, the chances of the recording the oral event so precisely as to capture such a slip of the tongue is remote. But most persuasively, Amulek’s argument works better if he deliberately constructed this contrast.
Amulek is obviously known to his listeners, a fact that dictated his self-introduction. Amulek would also have been known as one who was not a particularly faithful follower of the Nephite religion, as he explains in the next verse. The contrast will sharpen the crowd’s interest. His first statement is the one that they expect from their knowledge of him, that is, that he “never ha[s] known much of the ways of the Lord.” When he immediately breaks this expected sentence with the abrupt “I mistake,” the audience’s attention was caught by the unexpected remark and their attention heightened. What he says is that, even though he denied what he saw, the evidence for Yahweh’s ways was all around him in how Yahweh had preserved his people.
This reference to seeing Yahweh’s ways is an important element in his discourse. He is telling his audience that, just as he could have seen all of the evidence around him but had not, so too they will be able to see when they have their eyes opened to Yahweh. Even more to the point, he saw Yahweh’s hand in their preservation. This is a very important point because Amulek is contrasting protection under Yahweh and destruction if they deny him—Yahweh’s message brought by Alma. Amulek reiterates the warning, stressing that Yahweh has been protecting them from destruction, not bringing it upon them.