History: Mormon begins this section by announcing that many Amulonites perished by fire at the hands of the Lamanites, then concludes by quoting Abinadi’s prophecy. Obviously, Mormon wants to show that the prophecy was fulfilled. He is making a moral point; but how was any of this information available to a Nephite historian? These actions were in lands the Nephites did not control, motivated by internal Lamanite politics. Verse 9 appears to describe the situation at Mormon’s time, but could this very event have been so dramatically present in Lamanite thinking four hundred years later? The entire account seems to be a tradition tale, not history.
Possibly unrecorded but historical events underlie Mormon’s explication of the story of the Amulonites. The internal Lamanite tensions leading to death by fire might have a counterpart in the inter-city Maya wars. Death by fire, though less statistically prevalent than bloodshed, was still a mode of human sacrifice. Since the death by fire creates the “balance” with Abinadi’s death, it would not be surprising if Mormon selected this particular facet precisely to make his moral case stronger.