It's interesting how after reading the Book of Mormon countless times over decades, new insights still come to light.

Our little family (myself, my wife Teri and our 7 year old grandson Silas) read a little in the special illustrated "Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families" every night. We're deep into the Book of Mosiah, and were reading about that difficult time in the land of Nephi between when King Noah suffered his well-earned turn at the stake and their delivery with the assistance of Ammon and his brethren.

After several battles with the Lamanites, there were many widows and fatherless children in the land. And here we have the verse that tells how King Limhi dealt with the problem. This is found in Mosiah 21:17. "Now there was a great number of women, more than there was of men; therefore, king Limhi commanded that every man should impart to the support of the widows and their children, that they might not perish with hunger; and this they did because of the greatness of their number that had been slain."

The real meaning of this hit me for the first time last week. At the risk of being presumptuous, here's the same scripture, with a few clarifying modern terms, that summarizes what I got out of it:

"Now there was a great number of women, more than there was of men; therefore, king Limhi (the government) commanded (passed a law) that every man should impart (pay taxes) to the support of the widows and their children, that they might not perish with hunger; and this they did because of the greatness of their number that had been slain."

Darn socialist Book of Mormon kings.