The reason for this emphasis is evident in the queen’s case. While her speaking without being understood may indicate the Spirit, it does not communicate by the Spirit. Communicating clearly so that the Spirit can bear witness to the concept being communicated is more powerful than the gift of tongues (1 Cor. 14:1–5).
Culture: The fact that Abish, a woman, first touched the queen rather than Lamoni confirms the plausible patriarchal structure to Lamanite society. The woman servant would have been attached to the queen’s service, possibly prohibited from even touching Lamoni.
Variant: Royal Skousen’s examination of the original and printer’s manuscripts of the Book of Mormon indicate that verse 30 contains a misreading. Our current text says: “And when she had said this, she clasped her hands.” Skousen notes: “The 1830 typesetter apparently interpreted Oliver Cowdery’s spelling claped as missing an s, yet this spelling is simply the result of the scribes’ tendency to not double consonants after a short vowel. Elsewhere, the text does refer to the more emotional clapping of hands (“They clapped their hands for joy,” in Mosiah 18:11), but never to clasping hands. In this second example, Oliver Cowdery also spelled clapped with a single p.” (See commentary accompanying Alma 31:35–36 for a possible cultural reading of “clapped.”)