The power of the spirit comes upon all in the room, save one woman discussed in the next verses. This tremendous spiritual event has begun by the awakening of the king, and his declaration, recorded in verse 13, that he has seen the Redeemer. For the mass fallings, note that this is not an unusual effect of the spirit, and certainly one with which Joseph was familiar (see the comment following Alma 18:43).
The communication between king and a god was an expectation of later Maya kings (Friedel, David, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos. William Morrow and Company, 1995, p. 205). Nevertheless, it is clear that this experience with the God of Ammon transcended any other experience to which the king might have laid claim. Regardless of any other experience with the gods, this one was greater, and sufficiently so that the King’s declaration awoke the faith and spiritual feelings of all in the room.