Limhi's Hope Speech

My section was Mosiah 6 through Mosiah 14. There are multiple oratories:

Mosiah 7:9-11 Limhi introduces himself to Ammon, Amaleki, Helem, and Hem. He asks why Ammon and his friends approached him.

Mosiah 7:12-13 dialogue: Ammon introduces himself

Mosiah 7:14-15 dialogue from Limhi

Mosiah 7:18-33 sermon from King Limhi to his people

Mosiah 8:7-12 dialogue from Limhi to Ammon

Mosiah 8:13-14 dialogue from Ammon

Mosiah 8:19-21 Limhi praises God and quotes Abinadi (see footnote)

Mosiah 11:20-25 Abinadi prophesies

Mosiah 11:27-28 King Noah's dialogue

Mosiah 12:1-8 Abinadi prophecies

Mosiah 12:9-6 The people of King Noah speak to him

Mosiah 12:18 Noah commands to speak to Abinadi

Mosiah 12:20-Mosiah 14:12 is the priests, the King, and Abinadi all having a conversation where Abinadi prophesies to them about their wickedness.


I chose to focus on Mosiah 8:18-33 in my section.
Here King Limhi has called all of his people together so he can talk to them about their afflictions and how their bondage is the consequences of their fathers' wickedness.
King Limhi establishes his ethos talking about "the God of Abraham and Isaac, etc." and he also talks about the God who sent the Jews through the Red Sea on dry ground. By doing this, he shows his knowledge of the past and of the scriptures(which he quotes at the end), and how he knows what he is talking about. Then he hits their emotions with pathos when he talks about how many souls have died fighting for their freedom, how much they have to give, and how hard it is to be in bondage.
The arrangement of this sermon is interesting. He starts by telling them that they need to put their trust in God and he will deliver them from bondage if they keep the commandments. Then he explains how their fathers got in bondage, and how transgression got them into bondage, and then he ends with reminding them to put their trust in God and He will deliver them. He did this to establish hope for his people because they love him.
The kairos of this passage is important because Ammon has come and brought hope to the people who are in bondage.

“the Spirit of the Lord was upon him; and his face shone with exceeding luster” (Mosiah 13:5)

Mosiah 15 through Mosiah 24 of the Book of Mormon are chapters rich with the spoken word.  Chapter 15 starts out with a sermon from the prophet Abinadi, which continues until chapter 17.  In chapter 17, there is a dialogue between King Noah and Abinadi, like a trial, where they sentence him to death.  Then, in verse 15, Abinadi begins sermon-like prophesying.  Soon afterward, in Chapter 18, verse 8, Alma begins to deliver a sermon at the waters of Mormon.  In verse 12 he says a prayer, and in verse 13, he vocally carries out a baptism ordinance.  In chapter 20, Limhi, the king of the Lamanites, and Gideon, have a dialogue to settle some post-battle confusion.  In chapter 23, Alma delivers a sermon about kings.  Finally, in chapter 24 the voice of the Lord Himself is heard comforting Alma’s people, and giving instructions to Alma.

Despite there being so many voices heard in these chapters, I would really like to point out Abinadi’s rhetorical abilities displayed in his sermon to King Noah and his priests.  First off, the audience is a hostile one.  Abinadi, finding himself in chains before them, must use a highly confident, direct, commanding, and somewhat harsh tone is demonstrated in chapter 15, verse 26, where he says “But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins.”  Throughout his sermon, his tone and word choice is meant, maybe, to instill fear (of sin) into the hearts of his audience, and maybe a little bit of hope (in Christ) as well.

His sermon also uses similes, descriptive language, and metaphors in order to increase his audience’s comprehension of the atonement and its effects.  Phrases like “he shall be led…as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth,” or, “Christ, who has broken the bands of death”, or, “the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ,” or even, “He is the light and the life of the world,” bring to the mind a mental image, and a simpler way of understanding how the acts of a man (who hadn’t even been born at this point) can apply so heavily to someone’s life.

Even if his sermon did not change the minds of the entire audience, Abinadi’s speaking ability, and the Spirit, brought about a mighty change in at least one of them; and the results of that are immeasurable.