The wars with the Gadiantons are now severe and continuing. Sometimes the Gadiantons have the upper hand, and sometimes it is the Nephites. This continuing series of war with no clear victor is also quite reminiscent of narratives of the Maya warfare recorded on their monuments from a few hundred years later in time. However, the later date is due to the later adoption of writing on monumental architecture. The general trends were already in place prior to that time.
Variant: In the 1830 edition the second sentence reads: “And in the fifteenth year they did come forth again against the people of Nephi…” The word again was removed from the text in 1837. (Book of Mormon Critical Text. FARMS, 1987, 3:995).