According to an article by the staff of the Zarahemla Research Foundation, the Hebrew word samem and its derivatives are translated "desolate" or "desolation." The meaning is "a barren, empty land, wasted and made bleak by some disaster. The disaster may be natural or a result of war. But usually this word group is associated with divine judgment." It usually applies to places and things (Lawrence O. Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, p. 222). [Zarahemla Research Foundation Staff, Zarahemla Record, Issue 52, December 1990]
According to Hugh Nibley, before a war the priests of Israel would stand out before the army in the Battle Scroll, point to the enemy's land and curse it as desolation, as hormah or horeb. They would bless the land of Israel as the land of plenty, the blessed land, and the land Bountiful. So you have Bountiful and Desolation right together here. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 3, p. 195]
Alma 22 30 (a) The Land Which Had Been Peopled and Destroyed. ([Illustration])
Alma 22 30 (b) The Land Which had Been Peopled and Destroyed ([Illustration])
Alma 22:30 Bountiful ([Illustration]): Tulan on the Gulf Coast [Clate Mask, "New Insights into an Old Problem: The Land of Bountiful," p. 13, unpublished]
Alma 22:30 Bountiful ([Illustration]): Many "Bountifuls" [Clate Mask, "New Insights into an Old Problem: The Land of Bountiful," p. 15, unpublished]
Alma 22:30 Bountiful ([Illustration]): Places in Chiapas Ending in "Tlan" or "Tan" [Clate Mask, "New Insights into an Old Problem: The Land of Bountiful," p. 16, unpublished]
Alma 22:30 Bountiful ([Illustration]): The Soconusco. [Clate Mask, "New Insights into an Old Problem: The Land of Bountiful," p. 17, unpublished]
Geographical [Theory Map]: Alma 22:30 The Land Bountiful and the Land Desolation (4th Year)