This section covers decades of time. It covers the subjugation of the people of Noah, his death by fire and the reign of his son, Limhi. There are a few things that pique my interest in this story.
One of the standout aspects is we are shown just how despicable and low Noah and his priests were. When the kingdom is being overrun, Noah persuades those near him to abandon their wives and flee from the invading Lamanites. He suffers death by fire at the hands of those who followed him, when he orders them to not go back to their families.
His priests are not much better. Rather than return home, they flee when Noah is killed, forever abandoning their own families. Later, they kidnap twenty-four Lamanite daughters for new wives and then steal food from the Nephites. What surprises me is when they re-unite with the Lamanites, the king doesn’t just kill them, but it’s a different culture.
Another thing I found interesting is the manner which the Nephite men use their wives and children to try and save their lives. They place their women and children in front of them to plead for their lives to the approaching Lamanites. It sounds strange to us, yet there is a precedent in the Bible. Jacob does something similar when he meets his brother Esau for the first time after going to get a wife. (See Genesis 33:2)
The last thing I’ll mention is, for me, the most interesting. It’s how the people who fled with Noah recount his death to the Nephites who went looking for them. The men of Gideon find them preparing to return to Nephi when they tell the story in a ceremony. What kind of ceremony? Mormon makes no mention of it, so it wasn't unusual to him. But who in our day knows what this is? It seems obvious to me if Joseph Smith was making this up, he’d explain it, but he doesn’t. The story goes right on without a word of explanation on why a ceremony would be used in this manner. It’s a mystery.
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