Chapter 11
Nephite coinage set forth—Amulek contends with Zeezrom—Christ will not save people in their sins—Only those who inherit the kingdom of heaven are saved—All men shall rise in immortality—There is no death after the resurrection. About 82 B.C.
1 NOW it was in the law of Mosiah that every man who was a judge of the law, or those who were appointed to be judges, should receive wages according to the time which they labored to judge those who were brought before them to be judged.
2 Now if a man owed another, and he would not pay that which he did owe, he was complained of to the judge; and the judge executed authority, and sent forth officers that the man should be brought before him; and he judged the man according to the law and the evidences which were brought against him, and thus the man was compelled to pay that which he owed, or be stripped, or be cast out from among the people as a thief and a robber.
3 And the judge received for his wages according to his time—a senine of gold for a day, or a senum of silver, which is equal to a senine of gold; and this is according to the law which was given.
Alma 11:1-3 (Emphasis mine)
Mormon breaks in and explains the monetary system among the Nephites. He explains how a judge was paid and the amount he received for his work.
Hugh Nibley comments:
“Brother Welch, who is in our Law School, has made a very good study on this next chapter about the payment of judges according the senine. It seems that in the ancient court the judge had to be paid before you were let out of prison. It says here that the judges' pay was one senine a day. Later on it tells us in 3 Nephi 12:26 that you won't come out of prison until you have paid the last senine. They won't let you out until you have paid the judges. The judge is paid if nothing else. That's exactly the system we have in the Book of Mormon, as Brother John Welch has pointed out. According to the law of Mosiah, judges would ‘receive wages according to the time which they labored.’ It was a senine a day. Alma 11:3: ‘And the judge received for his wages according to his time—a senine of gold for a day, or a senum of silver, which is equal to a senine of gold.’ “ [1] (Emphasis mine)
He then goes on to explain how it worked. Lindon Robinson comments about the importance of the monetary system.
“All economists recognize the importance of a currency or monetary system to facilitate trading. Thus, it is interesting that the Book of Mormon patiently explains the Nephite monetary system even though it is an odd topic to have included in a religious text. Moreover, Alma also explains how the Nephites used money—to pay their judges, to discharge debts, etc. (Alma 11:1–20).” [2] (Emphasis mine)
Mormon then explains the monetary system.
4 Now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver, according to their value. And the names are given by the Nephites, for they did not reckon after the manner of the Jews who were at Jerusalem; neither did they measure after the manner of the Jews; but they altered their reckoning and their measure, according to the minds and the circumstances of the people, in every generation, until the reign of the judges, they having been established by king Mosiah.
5 Now the reckoning is thus—a senine of gold, a seon of gold, a shum of gold, and a limnah of gold.
6 A senum of silver, an amnor of silver, an ezrom of silver, and an onti of silver.
7 A senum of silver was equal to a senine of gold, and either for a measure of barley, and also for a measure of every kind of grain.
8 Now the amount of a seon of gold was twice the value of a senine.
9 And a shum of gold was twice the value of a seon.
10 And a limnah of gold was the value of them all.
11 And an amnor of silver was as great as two senums.
12 And an ezrom of silver was as great as four senums.
13 And an onti was as great as them all.
14 Now this is the value of the lesser numbers of their reckoning—
15 A shiblon is half of a senum; therefore, a shiblon for half a measure of barley.
16 And a shiblum is a half of a shiblon.
17 And a leah is the half of a shiblum.
18 Now this is their number, according to their reckoning.
19 Now an antion of gold is equal to three shiblons.
Alma 11:4-19 (Emphasis mine)
John Welch makes this observation about their monetary system:
“As he fashioned his reform, however, Mosiah must have realized that his judges would need to be paid in some way if his new system was going to have any chance of succeeding without a royal patron, and one function of his system of weights and measures was to set the amount they would be paid.” [3] (Emphasis mine)
As we read this set of scriptures we can learn some facts about their monetary system. First, their system was devised by the people to meet their needs. Second, The system was based on weights and measures. Third, it was based on barley and all other grains.
While they created their own system, it does show ties to the Old World.
“A bare list of several more features of the Book of Mormon will perhaps serve to illustrate a bit more of the richness of its ties to the vanished world of the ancient Near East, from which it claims to come. The system of market exchange set out in Alma 11:3—19 recalls ancient Babylonian economic legislation.” [4] (Emphasis mine)
One last observation. The heading of the chapter reads, in part, “Nephite coinage set forth.” Opponents of the Book of Mormon claim that if the Nephites minted and used coins, where are they? They need to remember that the headings were not part of the record. These were added later.
Another problem with this argument is that the heading is the only place you will find reference to the word “coin” in any form. Nowhere in Alma 11:4-19 are coins mentioned.
Scholar Royal Skousen points this out about the actual text of the Book of Mormon.
“Royal Skousen says: ‘In the text proper, the gold and silver units are referred to as pieces, not coins … now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold and of their silver according to their value' (Alma 11:4). Here in Alma 11, there is no specific evidence for a coin system (that is, minted pieces of precious metal, with possibly images or writing, perhaps the stipulated weight, on the pieces).’ “ [5] (Emphasis mine)
The text itself calls the gold and silver “pieces.” We don’t know what they meant by pieces. But, the text is clear. They are never referred to as “coins.”
I will let Daniel Peterson have the final say.
“And, by the way, for the umpteenth time, the Book of Mormon never claims that there were ‘coins’ in the ancient New World. The text of the Book of Mormon mentions neither the word coin nor any variant thereof. The reference to ‘Nephite coinage’ in the chapter heading to Alma 11 is not part of the original text and is mistaken. Alma 11 is almost certainly talking about standardized weights of metal—a historical step toward coinage, true, but not yet the real thing.” [6] (Emphasis mine)
[1] Lecture 48: Alma 10-12, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 22, 2011.
[2] Economic Insights from the Book of Mormon, Lindon J. Robison, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 22, 2011.
[3] Weighing and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 22, 2011.
[4] Mormonism as a Restoration, Daniel C. Peterson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 22, 2011
[5] Behind the Mask, Behind the Curtain: Uncovering the Illusion, Brant Gardner, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 22, 2011.
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