This post is designed to point out a curious connection between Alma's sermon to the apostate Nephites in Ammonihah and usage of the phrase "no one knows" in the Book of Mormon. As I outlined in this post, "no one knows/knoweth" occurs only 5 times in the entire Book of Mormon, in four passages:
- Alma 40 (twice), in the context of no one but God knowing the timing of the end of the misery of those who died in their sins.
- Helaman 2, in the context of the origin of secret combinations aimed at destroying the Nephites through secret works of murder and robbery.
- 3 Nephi 5, in the context of no one in Jerusalem knowing that the Lord led Lehi out of the land.
- Mormon 8, where Moroni goes out of his way to point out that "no one knoweth the end of the war."
Curiously, several of these context appear at the start of Alma's sermon in Ammonihah, found in Alma 9, right before he warns the people they will be "visited with utter destruction" "in a time when [they] know not." I've color-coded the relevant parts above and below.
9 Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?
10 And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?
11 Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his long-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of endless misery and woe. (Alma 9)
Of course this could be a complete coincidence, but I've learned to trust that this book is capable of teaching really important lessons to those who open their heart to learn from it, so I'm making this note and paying attention to this detail as I continue to study.