25 But behold, ye have rejected the truth, and rebelled
against your holy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, and where nothing
can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath
against the day of judgment. 26 Yea, even at this time
ye
are ripening, because of your murders and your fornication and wickedness, for
everlasting destruction; yea, and except ye repent it will come unto
you soon.
27 Yea, behold it is now even at your doors; yea, go ye in
unto the judgment–seat, and search; and behold, your judge is murdered,
and he lieth in his blood; and he hath been murdered by his brother, who
seeketh to sit in the judgment–seat. 28 And behold, they
both belong to your secret band, whose author is Gadianton and the evil one who
seeketh to destroy the souls of men.
Helaman 8:25 – 28 (Emphasis mine)
Nephi2 warns them they have been given the truth,
but they have chosen to rebel against God.
“Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast
them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled
against thee”
(Psalms 5:10).
The Nephites have ceased to lay up treasures in heaven;
instead, they are “heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of judgment”
(v. 25). King Benjamin warned the
people, “But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it
be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 3:12). He added:
And
now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught
all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has
been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that
it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's paths that ye may be
blessed, prospered, and preserved—
I
say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion
against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an
enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he
dwelleth not in unholy temples.
Therefore
if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands
of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt,
which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his
breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire,
whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.
And
now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final
doom is to endure a never–ending torment.
(Mosiah 2:36 - 39)
They are “ripening because of [their] murders and [their]
fornications and wickedness, for everlasting destruction” (v. 26).
Destruction is at their doors. Nephi2 tells them to go to the
judgment-seat. They will see the chief
judge has been murdered by his brother, who wants the judgment-seat for
himself. By the way, he says, they’re
both part of your secret band.
Chapter 9
Messengers find the
chief judge dead at the judgment seat—They are imprisoned and later released—By
inspiration Nephi identifies Seantum as the murderer—Nephi is accepted by some
as a prophet. About 23–21 B.C.
1 BEHOLD, now it came to pass that when
Nephi had spoken these words, certain men who were among them ran to the judgment–seat;
yea, even there were five who went, and they said among themselves, as
they went: 2 Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this
man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things
unto us. Behold, we do not believe
that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if
this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be
dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true. 3
And it came to pass that they ran in their might, and came in unto the
judgment–seat; and behold, the chief judge had fallen to the earth, and
did lie in his blood.
Helaman 9:1 – 3 (Emphasis mine)
Hearing Nephi2’s words, five men ran to the
judgment-seat. As they went, they made
it clear they did not believe Nephi2 is a prophet and the chief
judge will be dead. If they find the
chief judge dead, then they would know for certain that Nephi2 is a
prophet and they will believe all the other words he taught them.
When they arrived, they found the chief judge, dead, lying
is his own blood.
4 And now behold, when they saw this they were
astonished exceedingly, insomuch that they fell to the earth; for they
had not believed the words which Nephi had spoken concerning the chief judge. 5
But now, when they saw they believed, and fear came upon them lest all the
judgments which Nephi had spoken should come upon the people; therefore they
did quake, and had fallen to the earth. 6 Now,
immediately when the judge had been murdered—he being stabbed by his brother by
a garb
of secrecy, and he fled, and the servants ran and told the people,
raising the cry of murder among them;
Helaman 9:4 – 6 (Emphasis mine)
Seeing what had happened, they five fell to the ground,
astonished. They knew Nephi2
was a prophet and his words were true.
After the chief judge’s servants found him dead, they ran out
and told them people he had been murdered.
In verse 6, Mormon writes that the chief judge was “stabbed
by his brother by a garb of secrecy” (emphasis mine). What does this phrase mean?
Robert Boylan explains:
“In Helaman 9:6 we read that the Nephite judge had been ‘stabbed
by his brother by a garb of secrecy.’ In Hebrew beged means ‘garment’ or ‘garb’
(compare Genesis 39:12–13) and ‘treachery.’ Further, the preposition b- in Hebrew can mean ‘by means
of.’ Thus the odd wording of Helaman 9:6 may actually reflect a genuine
Hebrew pun underlying the text of the Book of Mormon. Such literary evidence
supporting the Book of Mormon is extensive…”[1] (Emphasis mine)
John Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper further explain:
“In Helaman 9:6, we read that the Nephite judge had been ‘stabbed
by his brother by a garb of secrecy.’ Critics have contended that this
makes no sense in English, since ‘garb’ has the same meaning as ‘garment’ or ‘clothing.’
This idiom is the same as the English ‘under cloak of secrecy.’ But the
Hebrew word beged means both ‘garment’ or ‘garb’ (e.g., Genesis
39:12—13) and ‘treachery.’ This would seem to be a wordplay in the Hebrew
original of the Book of Mormon. As for the preposition ‘by,’ in Hebrew its
range of meaning includes ‘in,’ ‘with,’ and ‘by means of.’”[2]
(Emphasis mine)
[1] On
Not Understanding the Book of Mormon, Robert Boylan, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed July 26, 2012
[2] One
Small Step, John A. Tvedtnes, and Matthew Roper, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute, accessed July 26, 2012.
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