KnoWhys

Recommended Resources

Learn about the Book of Mormon with verse by verse commentaries from renowned Book of Mormon scholars like John W. Welch and Brant A. Gardner in the ScripturePlus app. Read this week's KnoWhy connected with the Come Follow Me curriculum, and watch a video elucidating an insight in this week's scripture reading.

John W. Welch Notes

Come Follow Me - Mosiah 7-10

Come Follow Me (Insights into Mosiah 7–10, April 27–May 3)

Book of Mormon Central

KnoWhy 559

What Can Readers Learn from Lamanite Traditions?

April 30, 2020

4 Fascinating Insights about Seers, Seer Stones, and Interpreters

Reading Plan

Structure your personal scripture study by following a multimedia, day by day plan. Each day's assignment includes the required scripture passages from the Come Follow Me curriculum, as well as suggestions for additional resources to bring context and understanding to your study. To dive deep, skip down to "Additional Resources" for a bibliography on Mosiah 7–10.

Monday

• Scripture: Mosiah 7:1–16
• Quote: “’In scripture, the number [forty] represents a period of trial, testing, probation, or mourning’ (Gaskill, The Lost Language of Symbolism, 137). Ammon’s group traveled forty days to assist Limhi’s people who were in a period of trial, testing, and morning in their bondage.
  The Bible illustrates a related symbol for forty. ‘In Noah’s time, forty days of rain … made a new beginning for humanity….Christ fasted forty days before beginning his ministry… These and other biblical parallels create a typology of deliverance following forty days of tribulation….When Ammon1 arrives, Limhi and his people are sunk in despair...Having suffered greatly and having repented of their sins, they are now rescued.’” Larsen, Val. “In His Footsteps: Ammon1 and Ammon2.” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture vol. 3 (2013): 94–96.
• Quote: “In all of Limhi's words recorded in the Book of Mormon there is not a hint that he was reluctant to give up his throne. His people's safety, righteousness, and happiness were more important to him, apparently, than power. When Ammon came, offering the possibility of escape from the land of Nephi and a return to Zarahemla, Limhi said: ‘I will rejoice; and…I will cause that my people shall rejoice also’-rejoice even if they became slaves to the Nephites, for almost anything was better than their current situation! (Mosiah 7:14-15.) Limhi didn't hesitate. As he had used his power wisely, for the benefit of his people, so now, for the benefit of his people, he gladly began a series of events that led to his giving up that power.” Card, Orson Scott. “Three Kings and a Captain: Nephite Leaders in the Land of Nephi.” Ensign, January 1977, 82.
• Video: Why Are Mormon's Extensive Quotations of Limhi Significant? (1:01)

Explore Further

• KnoWhy 85: Why Are Mormon's Extensive Quotations of Limhi Significant?

Tuesday

• Scripture: Mosiah 7:17–33
• Quote: “The society in which the Nephite kings ruled was a temple-centered one. The king made important announcements at the temple (Mosiah 1:18; 2:5-6) both in the society at Zarahemla and in Zeniff's derivative society in the land of Nephi (Mosiah 7:17). When Jesus Christ appeared to the Nephites, he came to them at the temple in the land of Bountiful (3 Nephi 11:1-10). Even king Noah lavished money upon his temple in which his chosen priests served (Mosiah 11:10-11).” Peterson, Daniel C. “Priesthood in Mosiah.” Essay. In The Book of Mormon: Mosiah, Salvation Only through Christ, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, 193. Salt Lake City, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 1991.
• Quote: “Zeniff’s over-zealousness led him to make an unwise agreement with one whose ultimate purpose was to bring these Nephites into bondage.”
  “While we question the wisdom of Zeniff, we could ask if the same kind of zeal causes people today to make agreements or sign contracts that will ultimately place them in political or financial bondage. Individuals can be over-zealous for material possessions, or they can become so involved in a cause or in their work that they begin to neglect the weightier matters that are most important, such as family, church, and service to others.” Williams, Clyde J. “Deliverance from Bondage.” Essay. In The Book of Mormon: Mosiah, Salvation Only through Christ, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, 263. Salt Lake City, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 1991.
• KnoWhy 369: How Do the Covenants in the Scriptures Apply to Me Today?

Wednesday

• Scripture: Mosiah 8:1–12
• Quote: “The situation in which Limhi and his people found themselves is a type, a representation of the predicament that the scattered remnants of Israel are in the world over. They too must first accept that message previously rejected by their fathers if they are to be liberated from the spiritual darkness that is theirs. Only then can they expect the Lord to free them from their temporal bondage and allow them to return, as Limhi's people would, to the land and people they left.” McConkie, Joseph Fielding, and Robert L. Millet. Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 2:188. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2007.
• Quote: “After King Benjamin taught his people, ‘he dismissed the multitude, and they returned, every one, according to their families, to their own houses.’ In his day, King Limhi did the same. After teaching and ministering to the people at the temple in Bountiful, the Savior entreated the people, ‘Go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again.’” Hales, Robert D. “General Conference: Strengthening Faith and Testimony.” General Conference October 2013.

Thursday

• Scripture: Mosiah 8:13–21
• KnoWhy 86: Why is a Seer Greater than a Prophet?
• Video: Evidences of the Book of Mormon: Translation (7:26)

Explore Further

• KnoWhy 538: Did a “Magic World View” Influence the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon?
• KnoWhy 454: What Do the Kinderhook Plates Reveal About Joseph Smith’s Gift of Translation?

Friday

• Scripture: Mosiah 9:1–19
• KnoWhy 87: How Can Barley in the Book of Mormon Feed Faith?
• KnoWhy 472: Why Does the Book of Mormon Mention Cimeters?

Saturday

• Scripture: Mosiah 10:1–10
• Quote: “Elder Robert D. Hales taught that ‘joyfully living within our means and preparing for the ups and downs of life’ helps us to ‘be ready for the rainy-day emergencies when they come into our lives.’ He added, ‘happy is the man who lives within his means and is able to save a little for future needs. As we live providently and increase our gifts and talents, we become more self-reliant. Self-reliance is taking responsibility for our own spiritual and temporal welfare and for those whom Heavenly Father has entrusted to our care’” Hales, Robert D. “A Gospel Vision of Welfare: Faith in Action.” Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-Reliance, 1-2. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2009.
• Quote: “Impressive were King Zeniff's heroics while defending his kingdom against Lamanite invasion [including guards “round about the land” and spies, see Mosiah 10:2, 7]…. When the Lamanites finally attacked, Zeniff led virtually the entire male population into battle… Thus, although Zeniff's people went ‘up in the strength of the Lord to battle’ (Mosiah 10:10), victory was due in no small part to King Zeniff's tactical prowess and battlefield valor” Kerr, Todd R. “Ancient Aspects of Nephite Kingship in the Book of Mormon.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 1, no. 1 (1992): 90.

Sunday

• Scripture: Mosiah 10:11–22
• Quote: “Nephite kingship was … connected with and was even symbolized or legitimized by possession of certain material objects…. Nephi took the brass plates with him when he abandoned the land of Nephi… The Lamanites … claimed that by taking them Nephi had ‘robbed them,’… (Mosiah 10:15-16; compare 2 Nephi 5:3; Alma 20:10, 13). When Benjamin transferred the kingdom to his son Mosiah, he gave Mosiah the brass plates, as well as the plates of Nephi, the sword of Laban, and the Liahona.” Peterson, Daniel C. “Priesthood in Mosiah.” Essay. In The Book of Mormon: Mosiah, Salvation Only through Christ, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, 191. Salt Lake City, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 1991.
• Quote: “The characteristics of the Lamanites and their hatred of the Nephites [see Mosiah 10:11-17] reinforce a consistent, ugly picture of a people whose false traditions have led them to a cursed condition. It is a study of how ignorance and prejudice are passed on. Some of what we see in the world today, one group advocating hatred toward another group, is captured in verse 17.” Ogden, D. Kelly, and Andrew C. Skinner. Verse by Verse: The Book of Mormon, 1:332. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2011.

Additional Resources