Mormon Abridges and Inserts Flashback Narratives

John W. Welch

As you may remember, there were several flashbacks in the Book of Mosiah after King Benjamin’s speech (see chart 29 in Charting the Book of Mormon). Once again, here in Alma 17–26, Mormon abridges and compiles various underlying records with the result that more flashbacks are found here as well. Not only do these flashbacks remind us of the complex challenge anyone would face in trying to compose such a record, keeping track of these concurrent lines of narrative also helps us follow what happened to Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah as these remarkable men were simultaneously involved in important works taking place in various far-off locations.

· Starting on the left-hand column of this chart (Alma 1–16), at the first year of the reign of judges, or 91 BC, that column tracks what happened in Zarahemla through the eleventh year of the reign of the judges and what Alma the younger was doing. It covers the execution of Nehor, the Amlicite civil war, the conversion of Amulek, the conversion of Zeezrom, and, in the eleventh year of the reign of judges, the attack on Ammonihah.

· In the next column (covering Alma 17–20), the narrative backtracks to 91 BC and picks up what happened to the four sons of Mosiah during those same years—specifically, events about Ammon, Lamoni, and the land of Ishmael.

· Then we have yet another flashback in chapters 21–27 of Alma (the third column), in which the reader learns what happened to Aaron. After Ammon converted Lamoni, he went to the land of Ishmael to teach the people there. Meanwhile, Aaron went on to the main city of the Lamanites where the father of Lamoni was king. Lamoni’s father lived in the old city of Nephi that was evacuated a few years earlier when Limhi left. We never learn the name of Lamoni’s father, but we know that he took over and ruled in the old city where King Noah used to rule. After all, it was probably a nice place—King Noah and others before him had done a lot of building there. We follow on through with subsequent events in the third column, and eventually we again run across Ammonihah being attacked. This is when the Anti-Nephi-Lehies moved with Ammon north to Zarahemla and were given a land called Jershon for their inheritance. These people are often referred to as the Ammonites.

Figure 1 John W. Welch and Greg Welch, "Flashbacks in the Book of Alma," in Charting the Book of Mormon, chart 30.

· The final or fourth column (Alma 27–63) begins with the fourteenth year of the reign of judges and corresponds with the Ammonites being attacked as the Lamanites tried to get the converted people back. It then covers the rest of Nephite history through Alma 63, including Alma’s confrontation with Korihor, his mission to the Zoramites, his instruction to his sons, and the war chapters.

Keeping all these comings and goings straight is hard enough for readers. Imagine what it was like for Joseph Smith. It is strong evidence that Joseph Smith was translating an actual record. If he were just making it up off the top of his head, it would likely have been impossible for him to keep track of each of these people, their names, styles, concerns, and characters, as well as the smooth interconnections between these interlocking narratives, both in time and place. For, in addition to the dovetailing chronological details, the corresponding geography is also consistent throughout the Book of Mormon record. The complexity of these combined chapters, as well as the coherent accuracy of each individual account, are wonderful testimonies of Joseph Smith’s role as prophet in translating this ancient record.

Further Reading

Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Mormon Include Flashbacks in His Narrative? (Alma 21:13),” KnoWhy 129 (June 24, 2016).

Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Mormon Give so Many Details About Geography? (Alma 22:32),” KnoWhy 130 (June 27, 2016).

John W. Welch Notes

References