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| Using an actual map makes it easier to understand Mormon's explanation of the geography of the promised land. |
It's an explanation of the geographical features that make up the borders between the lands of the Nephites and the lands of the Lamanites around 90 to 77 BC - the time of the sons of Mosiah - who left the land of Zarahemla and went up to the land of Nephi, in the Guatemala Highlands, to preach the gospel to the Lamanites.
I'll go through the verses one phrase at a time - line by line - and explain their meaning by illustrating on an actual map of the area where the Book of Mormon took place - southern Mexico and Guatemala.
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| ...[Lamoni's father] sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west... |
One
Alma 22:27 "And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west . . . "King Lamoni's father ruled the greater land of Nephi from sea to sea, south of the dividing wilderness. It included the lands of Nephi, Middoni, Shilom, Shemlon, Lemuel and Shimnilom. It also included the land of Ishmael, which King Lamoni ruled.
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| ...which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore... |
Two
". . . and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore. . ."The "narrow strip of wilderness" is a mountain range. Read: The Narrow Strip of Wilderness Was Mountainous, but in a nutshell, the lands south of Zarahemla are consistently refered to as "up" from Zarahemla. So that means the river Sidon logically flows from those mountains - in a northerly direction.
It is the southern chain of mountains in the Guatemala highlands called the Sierra de las Minas and Sierra de Chuapus which run from the Caribbean Sea (sea east) and join up with the Sierra Madre on the Pacific (sea west). The Sierra Madre runs parallel to the shoreline, or in other words "round about on the borders of the seashore."
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| ...the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west... |
Three
". . . and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west . . ."Many readers think Mormon is restating or clarifying the "narrow strip of wilderness" here. But he is actually moving on. He's explaining there is more to the division between the Nephites and the Lamanites than the "narrow strip."
This division includes another layer of wilderness, another chain of mountains, that also runs east and west "on the north [side of the narrow strip] by the land of Zarahemla," along the borders of the land of Manti which is located in the headwaters (tributaries) of the river Sidon. This chain of mountains are the Sierra de Chama and the Sierra de los Chuchumalanes, which is divided by a pass that contains the headwaters of the Usumacinta River, a likely candidate for the River Sidon.
There is also a spur of mountains that extends northward, into the land of Zarahemla. This was the area where the Gadianton robbers would later hide. "—and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided."
Alma 22:27 mentions "east to west" three times and each time Mormon is describing three separate regions.
1) The land of Nephi runs "even to the sea, on the east and on the west."
2) The narrow strip of wilderness "runs from the east sea even to the west sea."
3) The borders of the wilderness that is "on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti" that run "from the east towards the west."
After defining the wilderness areas that divided the Nephites from the Lamanites, he continues with an explanation of who lived where.
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| ... idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi ... and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance |
Four
The Lamanites who built cities and ruled as kings over their subjects lived mostly south of the wilderness areas that separate the Nephite and Lamanite lands. However, there were nomadic Lamanites living in the wilderness north of the narrow strip but south of Nephite lands - sometimes referred to as the "south wilderness" - as well as spilling over into the coastal areas east and west of the land of Zarahemla.
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| ... there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore ... And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites ... the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts ... east to the west, round about on the wilderness ... on the north |
Five
Alma 22:29 "And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites; nevertheless the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness, at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west, round about on the wilderness side; on the north, even until they came to the land which they called Bountiful."A spur of mountains (wilderness) separated the eastern and western portions of the greater land of Zarahemla.
You'll find the cities of Ammonihah, Noah, Judea, Melek in the valley on the west of that mountain range and the cities of Zarahemla, Antionum, Jershon, Gideon and Manti on the east side. The city of Bountiful was later built on the north coast, near the narrow neck of land.
As Nephites traveled from east to west Zarahemla, they had to go "round about" this wilderness "on the north" side. The Book of Mormon sometimes says they would go "over" to the other lands, because they had to go up and over those mountains through mountain passes in the northernmost part of the range then down in to the valley where the cities were located.
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| ... the land which they called Bountiful. And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed ... |
Six
Alma 22:30 "And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it being the place of their first landing."The land Bountiful was situated along the north coast of the land southward. The dividing line between it and the land Desolation was the Coatzacoalcos River.
If you are wondering why the Yucatan peninsula is missing in the maps I use, read: Yucatan Island and the Land Bountiful.
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| [the land northward] was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it being the place of their first landing (1). And they came from there up into the south wilderness (2). Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful |
Seven
Alma 22:31 "And they came from there up into the south wilderness. Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful, it being the wilderness which is filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind, a part of which had come from the land northward for food."The Book of Mormon's mention of the Mulekites "first landing" implies that there was at least one other landing later. Just like Lehi's family, the people of Zarahemla didn't settle where they first landed. But unlike Lehi's family, who "journeyed in the wilderness," the Mulekites continued on in their boats until they came to their final destination - downriver from where "they came from there up into the south wilderness" and founded the city of Zarahemla.
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Eight
Alma 22:32 And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea . . .The Book of Mormon is very consistent with its language. The oft recited "it takes a Nephite a day and a half to go from sea to sea" is a misquote. It does NOT say "east sea."
It says "on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea. . ."
The said distance of a day and a half's journey begins from the eastern end of the dividing line between Bountiful and Desolation, which ends at the west sea.
That eastern end of the line between Bountiful and Desolation ends where the Coatzacoalcos River begins to be fordable. It is a river that is navigable for large ocean-going vessels for almost 2/3rds of its length. That is almost halfway through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec - easily the reason for it being described as "the place where the sea divides the land." Ether 10:20
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| ... land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward ... |
Nine
". . . and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward."
Alma 22:33 "And it came to pass that the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south, that thereby they should have no more possession on the north, that they might not overrun the land northward."
It was a constant battle to keep those Lamanites in their territories in the south. It was like Whac-a-Mole because if the Lamanites found resistance at one entrance they had plenty of ways to go "round about in the wilderness" and test the strength of another entrance.
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| ... the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south ... |
Alma 22:34 "Therefore the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about. Now this was wisdom in the Nephites—as the Lamanites were an enemy to them, they would not suffer their afflictions on every hand, and also that they might have a country whither they might flee, according to their desires."
They especially wanted to keep them from settling in the land northward or else they would be entirely sourrounded by their enemy with no avenue of escape. They needed to keep the entrance into the land northward free in case they ever had to escape the encroaching Lamanites.
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