After the great destruction at Christ’s death, Zarahemla apparently lay in ruins until it was rebuilt after the fifty-ninth year (4 Ne. 1:8). For a minimum of twenty-five years, there was no Nephite city at Zarahemla. Mormon provides no information about the government’s relocation to the rebuilt city. Whatever government was functioning did so from Bountiful, which again suggests that 4 Nephi represents the Nephite rulers after the Messiah’s coming. If this assumption is correct, it further establishes Bountiful as the new capital, as that is where Ammaron and Mormon’s father reside. Mormon gives no reason for his family’s relocation from Bountiful to Zarahemla, but in Zarahemla, Mormon attempts to preach and also leads an army. Evidently, the move south brought the family into greater contact with hostile Lamanite influence.
Chronology: In this verse, Mormon is a year older, suggesting that the time is 321 (Nephite) years from Christ’s birth, or A.D. 311.