Text: Mormon preaches a small sermon in these two verses: Yahweh’s will is the triumph of righteousness. Mormon gives the Lamanites their due as fighters, but the “Nephites were inspired by a better cause.” The battle is fierce, but the moral superiority of the Nephites ultimately carries the day. Moroni had a brilliant battle plan, which Mormon respectfully describes; but the final credit goes, not to Moroni’s genius, but to the lofty and pure motives of the Nephites. Telling that story is the real point of these military actions.
Literature: Mormon acknowledges that the Lamanites “did fight like dragons” (v. 44). Mosiah 20:11 applies the same term to Nephites: “therefore they exerted themselves and like dragons did they fight.” (See commentary accompanying that verse.)