“Important changes occurred in Nephite law and society with the establishment and promulgation of the law of Mosiah in 92 B.C. … Details about this significant legal reform … embedded in the narrative of the Book of Mormon shows that ‘the law of Mosiah’ (Alma 11:1) was solidly rooted in ancient Near Eastern ideas and legal tradition … .
“Research into the laws and jurisprudence of the ancient Near East sheds light on the legal provisions and procedures reflected in the Book of Mormon. … Whoever wrote the Book of Mormon was intimately familiar with the workings of ancient Israelite law and with the Nephite legal system that derived from it” (Welch, “Law of Mosiah,” 158–61).