It took the two military leaders four years to prepare for the final duel. And then the end came.
The Battle of Ramah lasted for eight days.
First Day. The two forces engaged all day in their sanguinary butchery. At evening both were exhausted and retired. But before they closed their eyes in sleep, "they took up a howling and a lamentation for the loss of the slain of their people; and so great were their cries, their howlings and lamentations, that they did rend the air exceedingly." (vv. 15-16) The lines quoted should be noted, for they are important as evidence of the authenticity of the record.
Mourning, anciently, was an important and elaborate ceremony. When a person died, his relatives rent their garments and gave vent to their feelings in loud lamentations. Hired mourners often added to the noisy expressions of grief their own vocal efforts. (Jeremiah 9:17-19) It is absolutely certain that just such a scene as here described ended the day of death.
Second Day. The terrible slaughter continued, and the evening was again made hideous by noisy mourning.
Coriantumr again offered Shiz the Kingdom for peace, but the offer was rejected. "Satan had full power over the people." (vv. 17-19)
Third Day. The armies fought all day and retired without disarming themselves.
Fourth Day. By this time the armies fought as if they were drunken, or insane, in their anger. They did not disarm at night. (vv. 21-22)
Fifth Day. The battle was resumed, and at evening it was found that only fifty-two of the supporters of Coriantumr and sixty-nine of the people of Shiz survived. They slept on their arms. (vv. 23-24)
Sixth Day. In the evening of this day, Shiz had only thirty-two and Coriantumr but twenty-seven survivors. They prepared for death on the morrow. (vv. 24-26)
Seventh Day. After three hours of combat they were all exhausted. Coriantumr's men, although weak, endeavored to save themselves by flight, but Shiz prevented them doing so and swore that he would have the life of his enemy. (vv. 27-28)
Eighth Day. This day began with another grim struggle between the survivors. All died except the two principal actors of the drama. Shiz was lying in a stupor on the ground. Coriantumr was leaning for a moment's rest on his sword. After this short period of rest "he smote off the head of Shiz. And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised upon his hands and fell; and after he had struggled for breath, he died. And it came to pass that Coriantumr fell to the earth, and became as if he had no life." (vv. 29-32)
Unfriendly critics of the Book of Mormon have objected to this account of the death of Shiz as incredible. A decapitated human body cannot, in their opinion, have acted as here represented. The obvious reply is that the case may be exceptional, even unique, but that is not a reason why we should doubt the veracity, or accuracy, of the chronicler. Exceptions to well-known rules are of daily occurrence.
But the question may be raised legitimately whether the fatal wound of Shiz consisted in the complete severance of the head from the body. Is that the fact that Moroni conveys? Coriantumr was almost exhausted when he perceived his victim on the ground. His primitive sword, which certainly was not keen Damascus blade, but must have become blunted during the preceding combat. Did Coriantumr, in his weak condition have physical strength enough to perform so great an operation with a blunt instrument? May we not rather suppose that the fatal wound which he inflicted on his enemy was a ghastly gash in the head, or the neck, causing Shiz to struggle for breath, as stated? Moroni could properly say: "He smote his head off," borrowing that expression from popular, colloquial language and using it in a figurative rather than strictly literal sense.