But behold, it supposeth me that I talk to you concerning these things
in vain; or it supposeth me that thou art a child of hell; therefore I will
close my epistle by telling you that I will not exchange prisoners, save it be
on conditions that ye will deliver up a man and his wife and his children, for
one prisoners; if this be the case that ye will do it, I will exchange. (Alma
54:11)
Culture/Translation: “Child of hell” most likely emerges from Joseph’s
vocabulary and religious world. The ancient Israelite concept of Sheol would
not have had the same connotations that “hell” would develop for later
Judeo-Christian religion. . . . Probably the plate text indicated that Ammoron
was a “child” of a specific pagan god, thereby denying (which he already had)
that he was part of the father-child covenant that Nephites had with Yahweh
(Mosiah 5:7). As the child of another god, Ammoron was foreign to Yahwe’s
covenants and therefore denied heaven—hence, a “child of hell.” (Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness:
Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6 vols. [Salt
Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 4:691)
