Interacting with John L. Sorenson, "The Significance of the Chronological Discrepancy Between Alma 52:33 and Alma 56:9" (FARMS, 1990), Jerry D. Grover wrote the following, arguing that there is no discrepancy between these two passages:
Potential Defugalty of
Helaman’s epistle and Mormon’s Abridgment
In 1990, John Sorenson pointed
out what, on first impression, appears to be a chronological discrepancy involving
an epistle written by Helaman in the latter part of the 29th year (Reign of the
Judges) inserted into the Book of Mormon and the associated abridgement by
Mormon involving the same time period. Namely, in the epistle to Moroni1,
Helaman indicates that in the 26th year (Alma 56:7) Helaman marched at the head
of two thousand young men originating from Lamanites converted previously by
Ammon “to the city of Judea, to assist Antipus, whom ye had appointed a leader
over the people of that part of the land” (Alma 56:9). In Mormon’s abridgment
Alma 53:22-23, he indicated that Helaman:
“did march at the head of his
two thousand stripling warriors, to the support of the people in the borders of
the land on the south by the west sea. And thus ended the twenty and eighth year
of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.”
Thus, it would appear that the
same event is being recounted by Mormon as occurring in the latter part of the
28th year, while Helaman recounts it as happening in the 26th year, so if this
event is the same, then there is at least a 2-year discrepancy in the
chronology.
Miner (2020) rebuts this
apparent discrepancy by indicating that the mention of the movement of Helaman’s
army prior to the end of the 28th year was, in summary, just a retrospective
summary of military activity along the west coast (including Alma 53:8), as it
was preceded fairly close in the text by a summary of activity along the east
coast (Alma 53:6-7).
Book of Mormon Central (2021)
characterized Alma 53:10–22 as a digression/flashback that lets readers know
about some key events that were happening on another war front, which events
began in the 26th year but clearly continued into the 28th year—the
very year which Mormon was discussing before and after the digression (Alma
52:19; 53:23). While Helaman’s initial march to the southwest war front occurred
in the 26th year (Alma 56:9), his efforts “to support” the war effort in this
area (including lots of additional marching to and from locations in this
region) continued into the 28th year and even beyond (Alma 57:5–6).
While the retrospective theory
is a reasonable interpretation to explain the proposed discrepancy, it is also
constructive to look in some detail as to whether the march by Helaman in the
26th year is potentially consistent with Mormon’s record, and to see if there
is a possible movement by Helaman before the end of the 28th year that is also
consistent with Mormon’s record, therefore not requiring the retrospective
theory.
The period of time bracketed
in Mormon’s abridgment as the 26th year runs from Alma 52:1-15. During that
time on the east front, Amalickiah, the head of the Lamanites, was killed, and
initially Moroni1was not on the east coast front (presumably in
Zarahemla). Ammoron (who replaced Amalickiah) gathered a large number of men
and “marched forth against the Nephites on the borders by the west sea,” thus Moroni1could
not go to the east coast front as he had to go against the Lamanites who were
upon them “in the borders of the land by the west sea.” No mention is made of
the specific battles or engagements involving Moroni1on
the borders of the land by the west sea. It is indicated that prior to Moroni1 departing
from that area to the land of Bountiful, at the latter end of the 26th year he
had “established armies to protect the south and the west borders of the land”
and Mormon writes that at the end of the 26th year the Nephites were “in
dangerous circumstances.”
The period of time bracketed
in Helaman’s epistle for the 26th year is found in Alma 9:7-20 and involves him
first assembling and marching with his 2000 warriors to the city of Judea to
assist Antipus at the city of Judea, whom Moroni1had appointed
leader of the people in that part of the land. Antipus had recently been
involved in battles and lost men, and in the process lost the
land and city of Manti, Zeezrom, Cumeni, and Antiparah. Ammoron had commanded
the Lamanites to maintain the cities that they had taken, and to take no
further action against Judea. Judea is not located on the west seashore, as it
is later indicated that the Nephite armies had to march towards the seashore
from Judea, with the city of Antiparah between Judea and the west coast. Judea
does appear to be in some proximity to the southern border (as the city of
Manti is known to be located close to the southern border).
So thus, the information from
Helaman is consistent with Mormon, namely that there had been an encroachment
by the Lamanites and the taking of some cities, Mormon was not specific in his description
of where, but battles against the Lamanites were indicated. He
had established and sent armies (one of which was Helaman) to the south and
west borders of the land to help protect the area. Thus, it would seem that
Helaman’s arrival in Judea was towards the end of the 26th year, after there had
been battles with the Lamanites.
There is no record from Mormon
involving the western front for the 27th year as Moroni1had arrived and
was active on the east sea front. Thus, there could be no potential
discrepancies with Helaman’s record.
Moroni1remained on
the eastern front during the 28th year. The commentary that may relate to the 28th
year in the west area in Mormon’s abridgment is Alma 53:8-23. Mormon commented
that on the “west sea, south, while in the absence of Moroni1,”
because of some “intrigue amongst the Nephites, which caused dissensions among
them, [the Lamanites] had gained some ground…, [and] had obtained possession of
a number of cities in that part of the land” (Alma 53:8). This geographic
reference is a bit awkward textually and may be better interpreted as a
specific recognized area such as “West Sea South” as there was no
capitalization and punctuation in the original Book of Mormon dictation. This
statement by Mormon does seem to be a retrospective statement that goes back to
the time that Moroni1had departed, which was sometime likely in the
middle of the 26th year. It would seem to also be consistent with the Lamanites
taking the land and city of Manti (which land would include “some ground”)
which is on the south border, and Zeezrom, Cumeni, Antiparah, and an unnamed
city on the seashore after Moroni1left, and prior to the arrival by
Helaman. The named cities all appear to be at elevation as the Lamanites would
have to march “down” from there to Zarahemla (Alma 56:25) so were also probably
considered on the southern boundary area, and not on the seashore like the
unnamed city. So, these would seem to be the cities that Mormon was referring
to that fell to the Lamanites just after Moroni1had left for the
eastern area. Further evidence that these were the cities referred to is that
when Antiparah fell (actually abandoned), the “people” from there fled to other
Lamanite held cities, indicating the people of this Nephite city had allegiance
to the Lamanites, consistent with Mormon’s statement of “intrigue amongst the
Nephites which caused dissensions among them.” Sorenson interprets this
statement to not be retrospective,
and that these cities must have fallen sometime in the middle or latter part of
the 28th year, which clearly would not make sense, and would force one to look for
an error in chronology. It does seem fairly clear that the statement regarding
the fall of the cities at least is retrospective.
After the brief retrospective
statement, Mormon proceeds to give a brief history of the people of Ammon,
their pacifistic oath, and the covenant of their 2000 sons to fight for
liberty. It is after this discussion that Mormon makes his statement that
Helaman and the 2000 stripling soldiers marched “to the support of the people
in the borders of the land on the south by the west sea” prior to indicating
the end of the 28th year.
Thus, it does seem that this
discussion by Mormon is retrospective and is looking at events earlier than the
28th year. However, it is useful to see if there was a potential march by
Helaman in the 28th year that might satisfy a non-retrospective approach to the
interpretation of this portion of the text. For Helaman’s epistle the 27th and
28th year are not differentiated and runs from Alma 56:20 to Alma 57:5. Just
prior to the end of the 28th year, Helaman had returned to the city of Judea
and prepared to attack the city of Antiparah. The people of
Antiparah ended up abandoning the city and it “fell into our hands.”
Thus, there may have been a
march of Helaman and his men to “support the people” and the city of Antiparah
was located in the proper location, namely on the borders of the land south by
the west sea. Thus, there does not appear to be an unresolvable chronological
disparity involving Mormon’s abridgment and the epistle of Helaman. (Jerry
D. Grover, Jr., Calendars and Chronology of the Book of Mormon [Tecumseh,
Mich.: Challex Scientific Publications, 2023], 156-58)