KnoWhy #125 - Why Did the Servants Present Lamoni with the Arms of His Enemies? (Alma 17:39)

It is strange to envision Ammon’s fellow servants bringing a pile of severed arms to present to King Lamoni. Yet the practice of cutting off the limbs of enemies as a testimony of conquest is attested in both the ancient Near East and Mesoamerica. The severed body parts served as evidence of success in battle. Depictions show soldiers heaping up hands in order to tally the dead or to entitle mercenaries to be paid. The servants of King Lamoni were therefore acting according to custom. And Ammon, instead of boasting in his own strength, went about fulfilling the commands of the king, which ultimately helped him to “convert a king and, through him, a people.”