Were There Two Sidon Rivers? Part IV—The Funny Part of This Theorist's Claim

The last three posts have dealt with why it is important not to jump at conclusions when trying to prove a point from the Book of Mormon about any geographical point. There are so many possibilities in understanding what is meant by Mormon’s abridgement and what might have been left out since he was abridging a very long record and could only write one-hundredth of what had been compiled.

Yet, continuing with the Theorist who claims that there were two River Sidons, who used an abbreviated example of Alma 8:1, 3 to make his point—however, the funny part of all this is that there is really no mention of crossing the Sidon River to the West as this Theorist implies. He writes: “The River Sidon had two forks which ran along each side of the City of Zarahemla.”  This, he claims, is based on two scriptures—Alma 6:7 for the Eastern Fork, and Alma 8:1, 3 for the Western Fork.

He further  writes: “And now it came to pass that when Alma had made these regulations he departed from them yea from the church which was in the city of Zarahemla and went over upon the east of the River Sidon into the valley of Gideon” (Alma 6:7), and adds: “And now it came to pass that Alma...returned to his own house at Zarahemla…Alma departed from thence and took his journey over into the land of Melek on the West of the River Sidon (Alma 8:1,3)."

From his writing, which his meaning, one might be misled into thinking that Alma left Zarahemla and crossed to the east and preached in the Valley of Gideon, then returned to Zarahemla, then left Zarahemla and crossed the Sidon River to the West and went to Melek. However, that is not what the scripture says or even implies.

"And it came to pass in the commencement of the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma departed from thence and took his journey over into the land of Melek, on the west of the river Sidon, on the west by the borders of the wilderness” (Alma 8:3)."

Note that there is no mention of Alma crossing the River Sidon the second time he left Zarahemla to go preaching.  Note that Verse 3 says:

1) And it came to pass in the commencement of the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma departed from thence...

We can assume for the sake of argument that Alma was in the city of Zarahemla when the year began and departed from the city of Zarahemla...

2) and took his journey over into the land of Melek...

Obviously, Alma left the city of Zarahemla and headed toward the Land of Melek...

3) on the west of the river Sidon...

Again, just as obviously, the city of Melek was on the West of the River Sidon...

4) on the west by the borders of the wilderness..

The city of Melek was on the west of the River Sidon by the borders of the wilderness, which was probably the West wilderness.

There is no  mention, reference, or suggestion in this scripture (or in any of those preceding or following) that Alma, after leaving the City of Zarahemla at the commencement of the Tenth Year, crossed the Sidon River on his way to the City of Melek.

That this Theorist  who claims there had to be two River Sidons (one river forking around Zarahemla to the West and the other around Zarahemla to the East) has absolutely no reason to think this, other than his own misunderstanding, misreading, or misleading reference to Alma 8:3. Yet, without really understanding what he is talking about, he goes on to create an entire map of the Land of Promise, specifically that of Zarahemla and the River Sidon, then goes on to claim that the only place where the river forks where Zarahemla had to be was the Buffalo River in the Great Lakes area of his own model.

One more time: “And it came to pass in the commencement of the tenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma departed from thence and took his journey over into the land of Melek, on the west of the river Sidon, on the west by the borders of the wilderness” (Alma 8:3).

There can be no  other interpretation of this statement. Mormon wrote that Alma left “and took his journey over into the land of Melek,” then describes for his future reader that the City of Melek was “on the west of the river Sidon, on the west by the borders of the wilderness” (Alma 8:3).

The problem with these Theorists is they start out trying to prove a point and then try to use scripture to validate what they want it to say. Too bad people just can’t start out with the scripture, and understand what it says and means before going off the deep end with some half-baked theory about the geography of the Land of Promise!