Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...
, are first mentioned described as a group of dissenters from the
Nephites
According to the Book of Mormon, the Nephites () are one of four groups (along with the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) to have settled in the ancient Americas. The term is used throughout the Book of Mormon to describe the religious, po ...
(Book of Mormon index,
Alma
Alma or ALMA may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film
* ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922
* ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017
* ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...
43:13). They, along with the
Lamanites
The Lamanites () are one of the four ancient peoples (along with the Jaredites, the Mulekites, and the Nephites) described as having settled in the ancient Americas in the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. The Lamani ...
and the
Amulonites
According to the Book of Mormon, the people commonly referred to as the Amulonites () were composed of the priests of king Noah and the daughters of the Lamanites, whom the Amulonites took to wife by force. They are named after Amulon, their leade ...
are credited with building the city of Jerusalem, in the land of Jerusalem, within the land of Nephi (Alma 21:2).
The character of the Amalekites is described as "more hardened than the Lamanites" (Alma 21:3). In the various wars, the Amalekites are appointed captains because of their murderous dispositions (Alma 43:6).
Religiously, the Amalekites were followers of the order of
Aaron
According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...
, the son of Mosiah, enters their land, the Amalekites are among those who contend with him. Though they profess to believe in God, only one Amalekite is converted (Alma 23:14).
Because of them, the Lamanites are spurred on to kill their own people, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (Alma 24:1). During the various wars between the Nephites and Lamanites, they are described as being better armed and continually inspire the Lamanites to fight (Alma 43:20, 44).
Amulonites
According to the Book of Mormon, the people commonly referred to as the Amulonites () were composed of the priests of king Noah and the daughters of the Lamanites, whom the Amulonites took to wife by force. They are named after Amulon, their leade ...
, no origin appears to be directly stated for the Amalekites, but it is worth noting that according to the
Words of Mormon
The Words of Mormon is one of the books that make up the Book of Mormon. It is the only one of them which is not titled as a 'book' and consists of a single chapter of eighteen verses. According to the text, it is a comment inserted by the prophe ...
1:16, there arose "false prophets" and "false preachers," who were punished as the law allowed, and some of them joined the ranks of the Lamanites.
Additionally, some scholars, including Professor
Royal Skousen
Royal Jon Skousen (; born August 5, 1945) is a retired professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he is editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. He is "the leading expert on the textual history of th ...
, have proposed, based on textual evidence and on spelling variations in the original manuscripts, that "Amalekite" is an alternative spelling of "Amlicite." Thus, Skousen's research into the original manuscripts used as the source for printing the Book of Mormon suggests that the "Amalekites" and the "Amlicites" are not two separate groups but the same group. The original manuscripts provide evidence that this confusion arose due to human error in transcribing the Book of Mormon into English, as unfamiliar names were at times spelled inconsistently, as the contents of the Book of Mormon were verbally dictated to the scribes. That confusion, while not having doctrinal implications for the book's contents, still exists in the Book of Mormon as of 2016.
Zoramites
In the Book of Mormon, the Zoramites () were one of three major Nephite sects, existing during the administration of Alma the Younger as the High Priest over the Church of God (). Zoram, the leader of this group, is first mentioned in as being th ...