This verse contains three distinct pieces of information. First is the uncountable size of the Nephite dead. Since the Book of Mormon later records body counts of ten thousand and forty-four thousand (Morm. 2:9), we might assume a monstrously large number, greatly exceeding these counts of thousands. However, the Book of Mormon uses numbers imprecisely. (See Helaman, Part 1: Context, Chapter 4, “The Meaning of Numbers: Counts and Estimates in the Book of Mormon.”) It seems reasonable to me that casualties exceeded a thousand, but Mormon’s purpose was to stress the calamity of the war, not the specific numbers. The casualties might be innumerable because there were too many to count, or because it was too painful to count them. After the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated that, when the dead were counted, it would be “more than we can bear.” It is that sentiment that Mormon expresses here.
The second piece of information concerns the burial rites for the fallen Nephites. Mormon includes two facets of this burial. First is the burial itself, and the second is its social effect. The Nephites evidently accompanied burial with certain rituals, but we have no details except that they included fasting, mourning, and prayer and that they spanned multiple days. While we cannot know how much of the Old World culture remained in the New World Nephite burial customs, it is still instructive to have comparative information:
One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studied publicity and the careful observance of the prescribed ceremonies (Gen. 23:2; Job 1:20, 2:12): 1. Among the particular forms observed the following may be mentioned: (a) Rending the clothes (Gen. 37:29, 34; Gen. 44:13; etc.), (b) Dressing in sackcloth (Gen. 37:34, 2 Sam. 3:31, 21:10; etc.) (c) Ashes, dust or earth sprinkled on the person (2 Sam. 13:19, 2 Sam. 15:32, etc.); (d) Black or sad-colored garments (2 Sam. 14:2, Jer. 8:21, etc.) (e) Removal of ornaments or neglect of person (Deut. 21:12, 13; etc.) (f) Shaving the head, plucking out the hair of the head or beard (Lev. 10:6, 2 Sam. 19:24, etc.); (g) Laying bare some part of the body (Isa. 20:2, 47:2, etc.); (h) Fasting or abstinence in meat and drink (2 Sam. 1:12; 2 Sam. 3:35, 12:16, 22, etc.) (i) In the same direction may be mentioned diminution in offerings to God, and prohibition to partake of sacrificial food (Lev. 7:20, Deut. 26:14); (k) Covering the “upper lip,” i.e., the lower part of the face, and sometimes the head, in token of silence (Lev. 13:45; 2 Sam. 15:30, 19:4); (l) Cutting the flesh (Jer. 16:6, 7; Jer. 41:5); beating the body (Ezek. 21:12, Jer. 31:19); (m) Employment of persons hired for the purpose of mourning (Eccl. 12:5; Jer. 9:17; Amos 5:16; Matt. 9:23); (n) Akin to the foregoing usage the custom for friends or passers-by to join in the lamentations of bereaved or afflicted persons (Gen. 50:3; Judg. 11:40; Job 2:11, 30:25, etc.) (o) The sitting or lying posture in silence indicative of grief (Gen. 23:3, Judg. 20:26, etc.); (p) Mourning feast and cup of consolation (Jer. 16:7, 8). The period of mourning varied. In the case of Jacob it was seventy days (Gen. 50:3); of Aaron (Num. 20:29) and Moses (Deut. 34:8) thirty. A further period of seven days in Jacob’s case (Gen. 50:10); seven days for Saul, which may have been an abridged period in the time of national danger (1 Sam. 31:13). With the practices above mentioned, Oriental and other customs, ancient and modern, in great measure agree.
The Nephite practices overlap those of the Old World in the fasting, prayer, and spending multiple days in mourning. Mormon does not mention visible signs of mourning, but it would not be surprising to find them among the Nephites. When Mormon lists mourning as characterizing the period following the burial, we may assume that, for him, mourning included certain recognizable rituals (audible and visual).
This verse concludes by explaining, “There began to be continual peace.… ” This phrase “continual peace” is Mormon’s, not found in the small plates. The duration of “continual” changes dramatically. (See commentary accompanying Alma 49:29–30.) For instance, in Mosiah 19:29, Limhi has “continual peace” for only two years. Verses 4–5 ascribe “continual peace” to the sixteenth and seventeenth years, suggesting that Mormon applies the term to year periods that lack both of armed battle and internal contention. Either of those two elements disrupt the peace, and Mormon sees them as equally threatening. The next peace-disrupting event is Korihor’s arrival (v. 6).