My friend, Stephen Smoot, has a great
article on his blog,
"Why the Book of Moron Battle Numbers Don't Add Up (And Why That's
Evidence for Its Authenticity)." His arguments and conclusions (which
are spot-on) reflect similar comments Brant Gardner made on Ether 15:1-2:
Ether 15:1-2
1 And it came to pass when Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he
began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him.
2 He saw that there had been slain by the sword already nearly two
millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart; yea, there had
been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children.
Finally after this gigantic slaughter, Coriantumr remembered Ether’s prophetic
warning/promise. Although the record specifies nearly two million dead,
including men, women, and children, the number should be considered a
metaphoric number, not even an estimate and certainly not an exact count. There
would simply have been no way to count the dead. Rather, we should read this
number as communicating tremendous devastation with a greater loss of life than
had ever been seen before. (Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of
Mormon [6 vols.; Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 6:320)
