16 And in the twenty and first year [21 A.D.] they
did not come up to battle, but they came up on all sides to lay siege round
about the people of Nephi; for they did suppose that if they should cut
off the people of Nephi from their lands, and should hem them in on every side,
and if they should cut them off from all their outward privileges, that they
could cause them to yield themselves up according to their wishes. 17
Now they had appointed unto themselves another leader, whose name was
Zemnarihah; therefore Zemnarihah did cause that this siege should take place.
18 But behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for
it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any
effect upon the Nephites, because of their much provision which they had laid
up in store,
3 Nephi 4:16 – 18 (Emphasis mine)
Having been defeated in the first battle, the Robbers laid
siege around the Nephites. They believed
if they cut off access to all parts of the land. They believed this would weaken the Nephites
and would eventually surrender.
With the death of Giddianhi, a new leader was
appointed. The siege was planned by
Zemnarihah, the new leader.
He failed to take into account that the Nephites were
prepared for the siege. “[T]he 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” (3 Nephi 4:4).
This type of planning was similar to Joseph’s advice to the
Pharaoh.
Now
therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the
land of Egypt.
Let
Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the
fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
And
let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn
under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
And
that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine,
which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
Genesis 41:33 - 36
19 And because of the scantiness of provisions
among the robbers; for behold, they had nothing save it were meat for their
subsistence, which meat they did obtain in the wilderness; 20
And it came to pass that the wild game became scarce in the wilderness
insomuch that the robbers were about to perish with hunger.
21 And the Nephites were continually marching out
by day and by night, and falling upon their armies, and cutting them off
by thousands and by tens of thousands. 22 And thus it became the
desire of the people of Zemnarihah to withdraw from their design, because of
the great destruction which came upon them by night and by day.
3 Nephi 4:19 – 22 (Emphasis mine)
The Robbers were forced to live off the land, which meant
hunting provided the main source of food.
Wild game, however, became scarce, leaving the Robbers in a hungry,
weakened state.
The Nephites continued to attack the Robbers. The Robbers asked Zemnarihah to pull back
from their siege because of their losses, both day and night.
23 And it came to pass that Zemnarihah did give command
unto his people that they should withdraw themselves from the siege,
and march into the furthermost parts of the land northward. 24
And now, Gidgiddoni being aware of their design, and knowing of their weakness
because of the want of food, and the great slaughter which had been made among
them, therefore he did send out his armies in the night–time, and did cut off the way
of their retreat, and did place his armies in the way of their retreat.
25
And this did they do in the night–time, and got on their march beyond the
robbers, so that on the morrow, when the robbers began their march, they were met by the
armies of the Nephites both in their front and in their rear. 26
And the robbers who were on the south were also cut off in their places of
retreat. And all these things were done
by command of Gidgiddoni.
3 Nephi 4:23 – 26 (Emphasis mine)
Zemnarihah gave the order to retreat and they began to march
towards the “furthermost parts of the
land northward.” Gidgiddoni was
aware of their retreat as well as their weakened state.
He sent some of his armies to meet them in the advance of
their retreat. Other armies followed
them. The next day, the Robbers were
surrounded, with armies in the front and rear.
There was no way for them to retreat.
27 And there were many thousands who did yield
themselves up prisoners unto the Nephites, and the remainder of them were slain. 28 And their leader, Zemnarihah,
was taken and hanged upon a tree, yea, even upon the top thereof until he was
dead. And when they had hanged
him until he was dead they did fell the tree to the earth, and did cry with a
loud voice, saying:
29 May the Lord preserve his people in righteousness
and in holiness of heart, that they may cause to be felled to the earth all who
shall seek to slay them because of power and secret combinations, even as this
man hath been felled to the earth.
3 Nephi 4:27 – 29 (Emphasis mine)
Seeing they were surrounded, thousands surrendered to the
Nephite army. Those who didn’t were
killed.
Zemnarihah, their leader, was hanged. After he was dead, the tree was chopped down
and those present cried out, “May the
Lord preserve his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they
may cause to be felled to the earth all who shall seek to slay them because of
power and secret combinations, even as this man hath been felled to the earth” (verse
29).
John Welch explains the significance of the hanging of Zemnarihah
There are only two places that I
know of in world legal literature that talk about the need to chop a tree down
after you have hung a person on it. One is in the Jewish literature … and the
other is in 3 Nephi 4:28-33, with the execution of the notorious leader of the
Gadianton robbers, Zemnarihah. They take him and hang him on the top of the
tree. When he is dead they chop the tree down. They all stand around and in a
ceremonious way chant, May God cause to be felled to the earth all people who
try to bring down our country—bring down righteousness—just as we are chopping
down this person and this tree. The whole thing becomes a symbolic felling.
That's an interesting little detail—interesting for a lot of reasons, but the
relevant one for this lecture is to show the extent to which aspects of the law
of Moses and of the ancient traditions and legal requirements were being
observed by the Nephites clear into this period. We could talk about a number
of others like that, but let that suffice as an example.[1]
John Tvedtnes writes:
Regarding the execution of
Zemnarihah, leader of the band of Gadianton (see 3 Nephi 4:28–29) … My
attention has been particularly drawn to the reasons Zemnarihah was hanged
rather than, say, stoned—the more usual method of execution under the law of
Moses.
One of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Temple
Scroll (also called 11Q19), calls for execution of a spy—one who
defects to another nation and curses his own people, or one who "betrays
his people to a foreign nation or causes evil against his people"—by
hanging…
The Gadianton band led by
Zemnarihah consisted of dissenters who had turned against the Nephites (see
Helaman 11:24–26; 3 Nephi 1:27–28). In Gadianton's day they had fled the land
to avoid being apprehended for their treasonous acts in killing the chief judge
Pahoran and attempting to slay his successor, Helaman (see Helaman 2:11).
Because of this flight, they fit the description found in the Temple
Scroll of the man who "escapes amongst the nations."
Giddianhi, Zemnarihah's predecessor as leader of the band, admitted that his
people had dissented from the Nephites (see 3 Nephi 3:9–11). It is also of
interest that Giddianhi swore "with an oath" to destroy the Nephites
(3 Nephi 3:8), clearly plotting evil against the people as also mentioned in
the Temple Scroll. His successor's execution by hanging is
entirely in line with early Jewish law.
From this information we can see
that even the minutest details of the executions of Laban and Zemnarihah are in
conformity with ancient Jewish traditions unavailable to Joseph Smith.[2]
[1] Lecture
97: 3 Nephi 11, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed October 23, 2012.
[2] Ancient
Texts in Support of the Book of Mormon, John A. Tvedtnes, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 23, 2012.
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