Lamoni’s wonder is also completely normal; however, his response includes several seemingly odd speculations. Lamoni had seen Ammon in person, first as a helpless captive. He knew Ammon was a man. Why, then, would he immediately deduce that Ammon was “more than a man,” even “the Great Spirit”?
The line between human and divine in ancient Mesoamerican was less firmly drawn than in the modern Western world. Many Mesoamerican religious stories deal with exploits of individuals who are “more than men.” The hero twins of the Popol Vuh are certainly depicted as men, but they just as certainly have supernatural powers. The Mixtec deity male 9 Wind is shown in the Codex Vindobonensis as a being in the heavens who descends and acts upon the earth. The myriad legends surrounding the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl suggest that he had both a heavenly aspect and one in which he operates on earth as “more than a man.” These “more than men” may be best understood as demi-gods, or deities that live and function on earth but who retain other-worldly powers. It is in this light that we should see King Lamoni’s speculation about Ammon—as one of the demi-gods familiar to him from Mesoamerican mythology.
Perplexingly, Lamoni characterizes “the Great Spirit” as sending “great punishments upon this people, because of their murders.” How did Lamoni see Ammon as punishing anyone? Rather, he was defending Lamoni’s honor and flocks. Even more puzzlingly, why would Lamoni connect Ammon’s heroic defense with murders committed by his (Lamanite) people? As I read this passage, Lamoni is speculating fairly wildly at this point. Demi-gods did not act logically, but rather for their own purposes and mysterious motives. Like Greek deities, Mesoamerican demi-gods’ presence among human beings was ambiguous at best. They were not always beneficial—indeed, were often malevolent. In Mesoamerica, a demi-god’s appearance would be, at the very least, risky even it were not immediately dangerous. Ammon’s prowess confirmed that he was dangerous. There was no guarantee that he would not be just as dangerous to Lamoni’s people as to Lamoni’s enemies.
But what would prompt a demi-god to come among them? Lamoni makes a connection between his political expedient of executing the servants and Ammon’s appearance. If the first event caused the second, then Ammon was probably angry. He had saved the current set of servants from being executed by his swift and bloody action at the waters of Sebus. Lamoni would certainly have known that his executed servants had not truly been at fault and obviously had a guilty conscience as a result. In fact, Lamoni tells the servants standing before him that Ammon had “come down at this time to preserve your lives, that I might not slay you as I did your brethren” (v. 4).