Halted and Turned Upon Helaman

As part of his long letter to Moroni during the great war between the Nephites and the Lamanites, Helaman described how the first battle with his 2000 stripling warriors occurred in Alma 56. Helaman and his young soldiers went past the Lamanites and lured them out to follow them. The chase began, and Helaman and his young warriors marched as the Lamanites followed for two days. Then when the Lamanites stopped chasing them, Helaman and his 2000 turned around and went back, assuming that Antipus had engaged the Lamanites in battle. Helaman recounted, “The army of Antipus being weary, because of their long march in so short a space of time, were about to fall into the hands of the Lamanites; and had I not returned with my two thousand they would have obtained their purpose” (v50). So, the army of Antipus was on one side and Helaman was on the other with his young soldiers. The next verse reads as follows: “For Antipus had fallen by the sword, and many of his leaders, because of their weariness, which was occasioned by the speed of their march—therefore the men of Antipus, being confused because of the fall of their leaders, began to give way before the Lamanites” (v51). Clearly the arrival of Helaman and his soldiers came at just the right time to save the Nephite army from a total defeat.  

               Something strange happens in the wording of the next verse: “And it came to pass that the Lamanites took courage, and began to pursue them; and thus were the Lamanites pursuing them with great vigor when Helaman came upon their rear with his two thousand, and began to slay them exceedingly, insomuch that the whole army of the Lamanites halted and turned upon Helaman” (v52). This was a letter directly from Helaman to Moroni, and yet suddenly, with no explanation, this verse starts speaking of Helaman in third person. The footnote suggests this: “IE Mormon here abridges some of the material in the letter of Helaman.” By verse 54 the language is back in the first person (it isn’t clear whether verses 51 and 53 are Helaman or Mormon writing). So why would Mormon make this edit to the letter? It is possible that he was trying to condense it, though it doesn’t seem like there was much he would have been shortening—he only wrote about this arrival of Helaman and his army. As I thought about these verses, I realized that the scene Mormon depicts in verse 52 is really quite a dramatic one. The Lamanites were in the middle of attacking the men of Antipus—“with great vigor”—when Helaman showed up to stop them. Perhaps Mormon thought Helaman was being a little too humble in his description, and Mormon wanted us to see the incredible power of Helaman. Taken literally this statement of Mormon is really amazing: “The whole army of the Lamanites halted and turned upon Helaman.” I see Helaman standing there with his whole band of 2000 warriors behind him when suddenly the entire Lamanite army turned to look upon him and perceive with horror that there were more Nephites to fight. What a scene! Helaman, who was undoubtedly in the front of his men (not the back) stood there with great power looking upon the enemy. Undoubtedly, with the loss of Antipus, both armies now fell to Helaman to direct. And that he did with resounding success, and perhaps Mormon wanted to make sure we understood the greatness of this man. Helaman’s courage matched that of his 2000 young warriors, and his example of faithfulness is a powerful lesson for all of us.