Comments Received from Readers – Part III

Continuing with comments and questions received from readers of the blog.   
    Comment #1: “It seems to me that every description on a map of Mesoamerica showing the narrow strip of wilderness between the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla mentioned in Alma 22:27, 29, does not stretch from sea to sea as the text claims. Don’t these Mesoamerican people ever read the record?” Hugo D.
    Response: Apparently not.
    Comment #2: “You mentioned in a previous post that the Land of Nephi ran from the west sea to the east sea and referenced that with Alma 22:27; however, the statement in Alma does not say that” Ambrose W.

Response: Well, let’s see what Alma 22:27 says: “And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla…”  (emphasis mine).
    1. The king had authority in the Land of Nephi, and sent his proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which describes the Land of Nephi;
    2. This Land of Nephi was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, which tells us the Land of Nephi ran from the sea on the east and the sea on the west;
    3. This Land of Nephi was divided from the Land of Zarahemla, by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west.
    It would appear that that scripture states exactly that the Land of Nephi ran from the sea east to the sea west. We can also verify this west sea, when we read “in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore” (Alma 22:28), which tells us the Land of Nephi stretched to the West Sea.
    Comment #3: “In Alma 22:27, it says that the River Sidon ran from the east to the west within the narrow strip of wilderness, before running northward past Zarahemla. This doesn’t seem to be what you describe in your posts” Sherwin S.

Response: The information in Alma 22:27 is talking about the separation of the Nephites from the Lamanites, and describing the narrow strip of wilderness that lay between both lands and stretched from sea to sea. Mormon writes: “And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west -- and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.” Obviously, this is a description of the narrow strip of wilderness, which ran “through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west -- and thus (because of this narrow strip) were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.” Mormon’s words are not descriptive of the River Sideon’s course, but of the direction that the narrow strip ran, i.e., from the east sea to the west sea.
    Comment #4: “Some readers of the Book of Mormon interpret [Alma 22:32] to mean that the entire narrow neck of land separating the land northward from the land southward could be traversed by a Nephite in a day and a half. However, a careful reading of this verse does not necessarily justify this conclusion. The historian’s statement concerning a line “from the east to the west sea” does not necessarily mean the same as though he had said that the line existed from the east sea to the west sea. The statement may mean that it was a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite from the east of the line to the west sea.” Enrique M.
    Response: One of the problems with people quoting scriptures to make their point is that they either forget there are other scriptures that contradict their point, ignore them, or are ignorant of the other scriptures. When Moroni sent Teancum to head off Morianton in his flight toward the Land Northward, he cut off the fleeing people of Morianton short of reaching the Land of Desolation (through the narrow neck of land), and “did head them, by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea, by the sea, on the west and on the east" (Alma 50:34). Earlier, we also find that Moroni sent orders to  Teancum “that he should fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them on every side" (Alma 52:9). The narrow neck of land was the only separation from the Land Northward to the Land Southward, thus the narrow neck had seas on both sides, as is suggested in numerous other verses as well. In addition, a careful reading of Alma 22:32 should show even the most cursory reader that Mormon is describing the width of the narrow neck of land to his future reader--it would serve no purpose if he meant what you suggest, since we would not know how far that line extended, its purpose, or placement within the narrow neck. If Mormon is not giving us a distance measurement of the entire narrow neck of land, then this entire verse is useless to us, his future readers.
    Comment #5: “I am really enjoying your books, thank you for putting all this awesome information down in print like this” Lewis A.
    Response: Thank you.
    Comment #5: “The confusion in Alma 22:32 is caused partly by the punctuation and the versification. If the punctuation were different and if Orson Pratt had split verse 32 into two verses, as he should have, the confusion would likely be lessened: And now it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation from the east to the west sea. And thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward. This would have clarified the confusion” Emilia R.

Response: No one today can say what Orson Pratt should have done. However, whether a semi-colon or a period, the point is to consider the thoughts involved and being stated. In sentence structure one sentence tends to follow another in a paragraph with continued or similar meaning, otherwise it would begin a new paragraph. Thus, whether a period or a semi-colon, the point of the second part is the continuation of the thought stated in the first part, that is—“And now it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation from the east to the west sea. And thus… Here, the word thus, which means “the result or consequence of this,” “In this way,” “accordingly, therefore, or consequently.” Therefore, the statement should be read as:  “And now it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation from the east to the west sea. And thus (therefore, or the result of this) the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.” It would not matter which punctuation you used, the meaning would remain the same, and is quite clear to anyone who is not trying to prove a different view of this narrow neck of land.