Coriantumr is a name that we have seen before, belonging to the last Jaredite king who lived for a while in Zarahemla with the Mulekites (Omni 1:21). We may therefore understand that Coraintumr is a name of Jaredite extraction. It is quite probable that there is no mistake in the probable lineal and cultural heritage that leads us to a man with a Jaredite name dissenting from the Nephites. The end of the Jaredite world was also accompanied by apostasy, and the Jaredite influence on the people of Mulek while they sojourned in Jaredite lands no doubt led to the loss of their language and religion. Thus this Jaredite tradition among the Nephites is at least representative if not causative of the cultural tensions that are leading to conflict and rebellion in the land of Zarahemla.
Narrative: As Mormon begins to tell the story of this military conflict he makes sure that we understand that it was lead by a Nephite dissenter. One of Mormon’s themes is the internal divisions among the Nephites. Mormon makes much of the fact that not only the internal contentions, but also the external wars, come at the hands of dissenters. As Mormon constructs his message, he emphasizes the foundational promise of the Nephites, that they would be protected in the land if they were faithful.
Mormon does not bring up the promise at every opportunity, but nevertheless shows through his examples that the difficulties of the Nephites are their own fault. Their wars and contentions come from their own collective faithlessness. Even though there are those that remain true to the Nephite ideals, there is a significant portion of the Nephite society who rebels, and this leads directly to the wars and contentions. Mormon highlights this theme historically, but it would have been painfully present to him as he wrote, for he was seeing the very same thing. As Mormon watches the Nephites be destroyed because they had lost the faith, he writes of the historical contexts in which the very same tendencies occurred.
What will happen in this section of Mormon’s narrative is the setup of the contrast between the wars and contentions stemming from those who departed from the Nephite faith and the faithful people who remained after the destructions to meet their Atoning Messiah, and usher in a long period of peace that would further prove the validity of that foundational promise.