Of course, it was not secular history that Ammon recounted, but the sacred evidence of Jehovah’s intentions for his children. The most important of those actions, after creation itself, was the plan of redemption. That plan is based on the mission of the coming Messiah, which became a fundamental element of Nephite belief, and the point where apostasy began, when people began to doubt that coming redemptive mission.
Lamoni had committed, and essentially covenanted, that when he learned Ammon’s truth, that he would believe it. Lamoni perhaps believed the words, but it was important that he have more than an intellectual understanding. Therefore, Lamoni prayed according to his belief.
When Lamoni falls as though dead, we may see a parallel to Alma the Younger’s experience. It is quite plausible that Alma’s experience, which had occurred in Ammon’s presence, was part of the history to the present time that Ammon had recounted. Thus, those who saw the king fall as dead did not immediately fall upon Ammon to harm him, but rather carried the king to his wife to be cared for.
His wife, sons and daughters had apparently not been in the hall to hear what Ammon had said, and thus they mourned. That element enhances the continuing tension of the story, as it continues in the next modern chapter. There was no break at this point in the 1830 edition.