Reference: This sword “hang[ing] over” the unrighteous is a literary reference to the famous sword of Damocles, in which a sword is suspended by a single thread over the seated ruler’s head. The purpose of the comparison is to indicate that judgment is coming; all of these events are harbingers of the second coming. The image, however, comes from the classic Greek tradition and, though familiar to Joseph Smith, would have been unfamiliar to Moroni. Obviously the sword of Damocles was a pointed, double-bladed implement; while the Mesoamerican “sword” is usually understood as the macuahuitl, a long wooden shaft lined on parallel edges with obsidian blades but rarely with a point at its end. (See commentary accompanying Enos 1:20–21.) A falling macuahuitl would cause a serious bruise but would probably not be fatal. Therefore, Moroni’s text would have connoted danger of the coming judgment but used a different image. (See also commentary accompanying 3 Nephi 20:20.)
Text: There is no chapter break at this location in the 1830 edition.