Translation: The image of the goat fleeing from young lions is most likely due to Joseph’s interpretation of the text, not the source text. There are no goats or lions in Mesoamerica. There are jaguars, but they are solitary hunters. This phrase has no obvious reference to any Old or New Testament verse. Its closest conceptual parallel is found in Mosiah 20:10: “And it came to pass that the battle became exceedingly sore, for they fought like lions for their prey.” There appears to be some cultural-bound phrase that found its translation with the imagery of lions.
History:On February 4, 1976, an earthquake in Chiquimula, Guatemala, so demolished a prison that “the criminals that were in the jail escaped almost as if by miracle.”
Text: This is Mormon’s conclusion to the incident, but this it does not conclude the story Mormon is telling. There is no chapter break here in the 1830 edition; and Mormon’s story, ultimately Zeezrom’s conversion, occurs in the next chapter of the 1981 edition.