“Alma 16:9–11 records the utter destruction of the wicked city of Ammonihah by Lamanite soldiers. Recent research has uncovered several striking affinities between that account and the ancient Israelite law regarding the annihilation of apostate cities. [See Deuteronomy 13:12–16.] …
“While Alma clearly lacked both the desire and the power to have the city of Ammonihah destroyed by a Nephite military force, … Alma carefully recorded and documented the fact that the inhabitants of Ammonihah had satisfied every element of the crime of being an apostate city. When the justice of God destroyed that city, Alma effectively showed in the record that this fate befell them in accordance with divine law” (Welch, “Destruction of Ammonihah,” 176–77).