Chapter 4
The Nephite armies
defeat the Gadianton robbers—Giddianhi is slain, and his successor, Zemnarihah,
is hanged—The Nephites praise the Lord for their victories. About A.D. 19–22
1 AND it came to pass that in the latter end of the
eighteenth year [18 A.D.] those armies of robbers had prepared for
battle, and began to come down and to sally forth from the hills, and out of
the mountains, and the wilderness, and their strongholds, and their secret
places, and began to take possession of the lands, both which were in
the land south and which were in the land north, and began to take possession
of all the lands which had been deserted by the Nephites, and the cities which
had been left desolate. 2 But behold, there
were no wild beasts nor game in those lands which had been deserted by the
Nephites, and there was no game for the robbers save it were in the
wilderness.
3 And the robbers could not exist save it were in
the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands
desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their herds and all their
substance, and they were in one body. 4 Therefore, there
was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to
come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in
one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves
provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might
subsist for the space of seven years, in the which time they did hope to
destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year
did pass away.
3 Nephi 4:1 – 4 (Emphasis mine)
We are about to see the genius of Lachoneus. The Gadianton Robbers come to fight the
Nephites and take possession of their lands.
They succeeded as the cities and lands had been abandoned.
But, they have a problem.
There was no game in these lands.
Further, all the crops had been harvested and their flocks were
gone. The lands were left desolate. The only place they could find game was in
the wilderness areas. They learned “the Nephites had left their lands desolate,
and had gathered their flocks and their herds and all their substance, and they
were in one body” (v. 3).
“Therefore, there was no
chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up
in open battle against the Nephites” (v. 4).
The Robbers were in bad shape. There was no food and they faced the reality
of starvation. The Nephites were
prepared to live off their grains and flocks for seven years.
5 And it came to pass that in the nineteenth year
[19 A.D.] Giddianhi found that it was expedient that he should go up to battle
against the Nephites, for there was no way that they could subsist
save it were to plunder and rob and murder. 6 And they durst
not spread themselves upon the face of the land insomuch that they could raise
grain, lest the Nephites should come upon them and slay them; therefore
Giddianhi gave commandment unto his armies that in this year they should go up
to battle against the Nephites.
7 And it came to pass that they did come up to battle;
and it was in the sixth month; and behold, great and terrible was the day that they did
come up to battle; and they were girded about after the manner of robbers; and
they had a lamb–skin about their loins, and they were dyed in blood, and their
heads were shorn, and they had head–plates upon them; and great and terrible
was the appearance of the armies of Giddianhi, because of their armor, and
because of their being dyed in blood.
8 And it came to pass that the armies of the
Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen
to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would
spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. 9
And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they
began to shout with a loud voice, because of their joy, for they had supposed
that the Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of their armies.
3 Nephi 4:5 – 9 (Emphasis mine)
Seeing he had no other choice, Giddianhi prepared to attack
the Nephites. “[T]here was no way that they could subsist save it were to plunder and
rob and murder” (v.5).
Now
these dissenters, having the same instruction and the same information of the
Nephites, yea, having been instructed in the same knowledge of the Lord, nevertheless,
it is strange to relate, not long after their dissensions they became more
hardened and impenitent, and more wild, wicked and ferocious than the
Lamanites—drinking in with the traditions of the Lamanites; giving way to indolence,
and all manner of lasciviousness; yea, entirely forgetting the Lord their God.
Alma 47:36
They couldn’t provide for themselves. For example, if they attempted to grow their
own grains, the Robbers would be so spread out it would be easy for the
Nephites to defeat them.
The Robbers attacked the Nephites. The Robbers were “girded about after the manner of robbers; and they had a lamb–skin
about their loins, and they were dyed in blood, and their heads were shorn, and
they had head–plates upon them; and great and terrible was the appearance of
the armies of Giddianhi, because of their armor, and because of their being
dyed in blood” (v. 7).
Hugh Nibley writes:
This behavior of the robbers was
exactly what Lachoneus was counting on, and by applying hunger as his secret
weapon he was able to draw out the oppressors into open battle again and again,
until they were virtually exterminated. Of course an alternative of the bands
would have been to go to work and make food for themselves, but that is
strictly against the heroic code of honor according to which "there was no
way that they could subsist save it were to plunder and rob and murder" (3
Nephi 4:5).[1]
Seeing this army, the Nephites fell to the earth and began
to cry out to the Lord, asking him to deliver them from their enemies. The Robbers thought the Nephites were struck
with fear. This made them shout with
joy, thinking things were going their way.
[1] The
Way of the Wicked, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed October 19, 2012.
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