Mosiah 22:1 the voice of the people

The people of Limhi had a royal form of government not a democratic one. Still, we see that Limhi was interested in the voice of the people. The effort to break free from the bondage of the Lamanites would require the combined energies of all the people. This effort was an early form of democracy in action.

Elder Antoine R. Ivins

“… democracy does not consist in a set of rules which provide for the election of representatives of the people, whom we name presidents and senators and representatives, but democracy is a condition of the heart; democracy consists in the recognition, on the part of one person, of the rights of another, and the thought that the common good is the determining principle, or should be, in all government; that men who are placed in prominent positions to direct the destinies of people derive that right from the voice of the people. In other words, that the people is sovereign, and the ruler is the servant of the people.

“Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, taught that when he said: ‘He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.’ Verily this is true.

“Democracy is the underlying principle, when it comes to government in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I have stood in this pulpit before and stressed the fact that that democracy is represented in the Priesthood of the Church of God.” (Conference Reports, Apr. 1938, p. 47)

Mosiah 22:7 we will pass through the secret pass…when they are drunken and asleep

It should not be surprising that the Nephites had wine to give to the Lamanites as Noah had made winepresses to make wine in abundance (Mosiah 11:15). The Word of Wisdom was not in force under the Law of Moses, and wine was not expressly forbidden. However, there were proscriptions against the excessive use of alcohol, Be not among winebibbers…For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty (Prov 23:20-21), and Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink (Isa 5:22). Fortunately, for the Nephites, the Lamanites had no laws against the comsumption of alcohol and Gideon’s plan worked brilliantly. From this time onward, the Nephites intermittently use this trick of Gideon to their advantage (Alma 55:6-14). The Lamanites used the ploy against the Nephites to no avail, many times did they attempt to administer of their wine to the Nephites, that they might destroy them with poison or with drunkenness. But behold, the Nephites…would not partake of their wine, save they had first given to some of the Lamanite prisoners. And they were thus cautious that no poison should be administered among them (Alma 55:30-32).

Limhi’s people hereby escape the bondage of the Nephites. Their departure is interesting in contrast to the people of Alma who are placed in the same predicament. In their case, they rely on the Lord not on a gift of wine. The Lord responds by placing a deep sleep upon the Lamanite task-masters so that Alma’s people can escape (Mos 24:19).

Mosiah 22:13 after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla

From Mosiah 23:3 and Mosiah 24:20-25, it can be determined that the distance from the land of Nephi to Zarahemla could be traveled in 21 days.

Mosiah 22:14 Mosiah received them with joy; and he also received their records

“It was with great joy that King Mosiah and the people of Zarahemla received their brethren from Lehi-Nephi. They had thought that Zeniff and their friends and relatives who had accompanied him to the old homes of their fathers had been slain. They had heard nothing from them, and presumed that all of them had been destroyed. Now that they had become united and once again could dwell in peace, ‘songs of delight filled each grateful heart.’ We may imagine the deep sense of thankfulness that arose from their lips as their leaders proclaimed the goodness of God in delivering them from Lamanite bondage. Another cause of rejoicing in Mosiah's heart was that the people from Lehi-Nephi had preserved their records.” (Reynolds and Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 2, p. 240)

“The early history contained in the Book of Mormon is obtained from three sets of plates: the brass plates of Laban, the small plates of Nephi, and the large plates of Nephi. However, when Limhi's people join with the people of King Mosiah in the land of Zarahemla they bring with them two additional sets of plates: (1) their own records, which are known as the record of Zeniff, and (2) the ‘records which had been found by the people of Limhi,’ which are later identified as the records of Ether. (See Ether 1:1-2.) When Alma and his people come into the land of Zarahemla, they also evidently bring their own records with them. (See Mosiah 25:6 and also the superscription before Alma, chapter 23.)” (Daniel Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, p.188)