Alma 28

People in this chapter

The previous chapter ended in peace. The people of Ammon, Lamanites who had buried their swords rather than shed blood again, were given the land of Jershon, and the Nephites promised to guard them (Alma 27:22-24). Alma 28 opens with what that promise cost. The Lamanite armies followed their brethren into the wilderness (v. 1), and there was a tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem (v. 2).

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Alma 28:1-3A Tremendous Battle

1And now it came to pass that after the people of Ammon were established in the land of Jershon, and a church also established in the land of Jershon, and the armies of the Nephites were set round about the land of Jershon, yea, in all the borders round about the land of Zarahemla; behold the armies of the Lamanites had followed their brethren into the wilderness.

The people of Ammon had promised God never to fight again. The Nephites kept their own promise to protect them, and when the Lamanite armies came, the Nephite armies stood between them.

2And thus there was a tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem; yea, and tens of thousands of the Lamanites were slain and scattered abroad. 3Yea, and also there was a tremendous slaughter among the people of Nephi; nevertheless, the Lamanites were driven and scattered, and the people of Nephi returned again to their land.

This was the worst battle in Nephite history up to this time. Tens of thousands of Lamanites died, and many Nephites too. The Nephites won, but Mormon spends no time on the victory.

Alma 28:4-7A Time of Much Fasting and Prayer

4And now this was a time that there was a great mourning and lamentation heard throughout all the land, among all the people of Nephi— 5Yea, the cry of widows mourning for their husbands, and also of fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea, the brother for the father; and thus the cry of mourning was heard among all of them, mourning for their kindred who had been slain.

Mormon lists who was crying: widows, fathers, daughters, brothers. Families everywhere lost someone. He wants us to hear the grief behind the numbers.

6And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of solemnity, and a time of much fasting and prayer. 7And thus endeth the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi;

The Nephites grieved by turning to God. They fasted and prayed. Grief that is brought to the Lord can become a holy time.

Alma 28:8-10Their Incomprehensible Joy

8And this is the account of Ammon and his brethren, their journeyings in the land of Nephi, their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy, and the reception and safety of the brethren in the land of Jershon. And now may the Lord, the Redeemer of all men, bless their souls forever.

Mormon sums up fourteen years of missionary work: sufferings, sorrows, afflictions, and incomprehensible joy. Both the suffering and the joy were real.

9And this is the account of the wars and contentions among the Nephites, and also the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites; and the fifteenth year of the reign of the judges is ended. 10And from the first year to the fifteenth has brought to pass the destruction of many thousand lives; yea, it has brought to pass an awful scene of bloodshed.

Mormon looks back over the first fifteen years of the judges. They began with a new government and ended in bloodshed. War took thousands of lives.

Alma 28:11-14The Great Reason of Sorrow, and Also of Rejoicing

11And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are moldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are mourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo. 12While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness.

Mormon describes two groups of mourners. Both have lost family. One group fears for the people they lost. The other mourns too, but with hope, because they know their loved ones are with God.

13And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men. 14And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life.

Mormon says thus we see and draws two lessons. Sin is what makes the difference between the two kinds of mourners. And because of that, there is great reason to work hard in the Lord's vineyard, to help people come to Christ.

Mormon ends with both sorrow and joy. The sorrow comes from death. The joy comes from the light of Christ unto life.

Research trail

Sources & further study

These references support the historical, linguistic, manuscript, and contextual notes in this chapter. Scripture remains the primary text; external sources are provided so readers can inspect the research directly.

Where this echoes in Scripture

A Tremendous Battle

A Time of Much Fasting and Prayer

Their Incomprehensible Joy

The Great Reason of Sorrow, and Also of Rejoicing