When the Book of Mormon prophet Alma visits Ammonihah as part of a preaching tour, the city becomes the setting of "one of the most disturbing episodes"[2] of the text in which Ammonihah's governing elite imprison him, exile any men converted by his preaching, and kill women and children associated with his mission by fire.

[3] In the book's narrative, a family flees first Temple period Jerusalem, prophetically directed to escape the Babylonian captivity.

Led by God, they arrive in the Americas and establish a society which, due to a feud, splits into two: the Nephites and the Lamanites.

In addition to being high priest of the church, Alma spends some time ruling as chief judge of the Nephites.

Early in his career, Alma hears the case of a man named Nehor who, during a debate about religion, murders a Nephite church member.

As a community, Ammonihah is politically and religiously[clarification needed] separated from the rest of Nephite society, as they have their own judges and are followers of Nehor's teachings.

[17] When Alma arrives at Ammonihah, the people refuse to give him an audience, aggressively mock him and the Nephite church, and turn him out from the city, a response to his role in the execution of Nehor.

[18] The angel warns Alma that Ammonihah is not only doctrinally heterodox but also plotting political sedition, as some "study at this time that they may destroy the liberty of thy people".

Ammonihah lawyers and judges confront Alma and Amulek, accusing the pair of trying to undermine the political order.

In a sermon, he warns that for those who experience "spiritual death" because they do not repent, their "torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever".

The Ammonihah majority drive male converts to Alma's preaching out of the city, arrest their wives and children, and seized scriptures in their possession.

The people of Ammonihah keep Alma and Amulek imprisoned, and the jailers take away their clothing, mock them, starve them, and beat them.

[31] The Nephites repel the Lamanite invasion, but Ammonihah is destroyed, with the scale of death so immense the resulting odor discourages reoccupation of the area for years.

[33] The last appearance is set ten years later in Alma 49:15, in which the city of Ammonihah—described as having been rebuilt with fortifications under the direction of Nephite military leader Captain Moroni—repels a Lamanite attack.

In the Book of Mormon before and during the Ammonihah arc, "lake of fire and brimstone" is a relatively common metaphor for hell and spiritual death.

[36] However, after Alma and Amulek escape Ammonihah, the phrase "lake of fire and brimstone" is never repeated for the remainder of the book.[importance?]