Stisa's recent series of posts about thematic repetition in scripture (here, here, and here) got me thinking. As I recently re-read the Book of Mosiah, I couldn't help but see numerous examples, which I'll lay out in two posts.
We already know a lot about the complexity of the Book of Mosiah, so this added layer of subtle thematic repetition is just another layer to learn from. We'll start with a long example.Example #1: Limhi's speech and Benjamin's speech
Shortly after the account of Benjamin's speech and covenant-making with his people(s), we switch to the account of Limhi and those Nephites who had departed Zarahemla years earlier to reclaim the land of their first inheritance. I noticed two specific details about Limhi's speech to his people which seem to echo the description of Benjamin.
I can think of two reasons for Mormon to link these two accounts:
- Limhi's people will later re-unite with the main body of Nephites ruled by Mosiah-2 in Zarahemla.
- Limhi's leadership mirrors aspects of Mosiah-1's leadership in taking a group of Nephites away from danger in the land of Lehi-Nephi to "go down" to Zarahemla.
The first set of overlapping details is found in Mosiah 7:17 --
17 And now, it came to pass on the morrow that king Limhi sent a proclamation among all his people, that thereby they might gather themselves together to the temple, to hear the words which he should speak unto them.
Compare this to Mosiah 2:1 --
1 And it came to pass that after Mosiah had done as his father had commanded him, and had made a proclamation throughout all the land, that the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them.
Three common details are shared in the matching verses, which read very closely to one another.
We also get this set of details in Mosiah 8:4 --
4 And it came to pass that after he had done all this, that king Limhi dismissed the multitude, and caused that they should return every one unto his own house.
This matches up with Mosiah 6:3:
3 And again, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of all these things, and had consecrated his son Mosiah to be a ruler and a king over his people, and had given him all the charges concerning the kingdom, and also had appointed priests to teach the people, that thereby they might hear and know the commandments of God, and to stir them up in remembrance of the oath which they had made, he dismissed the multitude, and they returned, every one, according to their families, to their own houses.
Here we again find three very similar phrases in common between the two passages, in the same order, albeit with some additional details given in King Benjamin's account.
The second set of details is especially interesting because it appears right after Ammon is invited to rehearse the words of Benjamin (see Mosiah 8:2-3). This is yet another link between Limhi and Benjamin, and shows Limhi to be in harmony with Benjamin's teachings.
One final link between the two stories is that Limhi asks Ammon about interpreting the Jaredite records they found. Ammon refers him to Mosiah-2 (Benjamin's son), and Limhi rejoices and gives thanks to God:
19 And now, when Ammon had made an end of speaking these words the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave thanks to God, saying: Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates, and these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men. (Mosiah 8)
This is quite reminiscent of Benjamin's words to his sons:
5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct. (Mosiah 1)
The Lord's course is one eternal round. It seems Mormon was able to embed an additional layer of teaching into his abridgement by intentionally creating links between certain accounts. These deeper messages would be apparent once the connection was found. In this case, the deeper message seems to be: "Even those who separated themselves from the covenant people have access to the blessings of the covenant if they hearken to and believe the words of faithful messengers sent to reclaim them from bondage."
In the next post I'll outline several more examples of thematic repetition.
