Omni 1:1-9

The Book of Omni

Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, each in turn, keep the records—Mosiah discovers the people of Zarahemla who came from Jerusalem in the days of Zedekiah—He is made king over them—The Mulekites had discovered Coriantumr, the last of the Jaredites—King Benjamin succeeds Mosiah—Men should offer their souls as an offering to Christ. About 323–130 B.C.

1 BEHOLD, it came to pass that I, Omni, being commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon these plates, to preserve our genealogy—

2 Wherefore, in my days, I would that ye should know that I fought much with the sword to preserve my people, the Nephites, from falling into the hands of their enemies, the Lamanites.  But behold, I of myself am a wicked man, and I have not kept the statutes and the commandments of the Lord as I ought to have done.

3 And it came to pass that two hundred and seventy and six years had passed away, and we had many seasons of peace; and we had many seasons of serious war and bloodshed.  Yea, and in fine, two hundred and eighty and two years had passed away, and I had kept these plates according to the commandments of my fathers; and I conferred them upon my son Amaron.  And I make an end.

4 And now I, Amaron, write the things whatsoever I write, which are few, in the book of my father.

5 Behold, it came to pass that three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed.

6 For the Lord would not suffer, after he had led them out of the land of Jerusalem and kept and preserved them from falling into the hands of their enemies, yea, he would not suffer that the words should not be verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall not prosper in the land.

7 Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgment; nevertheless, he did spare the righteous that they should not perish, but did deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.

8 And it came to pass that I did deliver the plates unto my brother Chemish.

9 Now I, Chemish, write what few things I write, in the same book with my brother; for behold, I saw the last which he wrote, that he wrote it with his own hand; and he wrote it in the day that he delivered them unto me.  And after this manner we keep the records, for it is according to the commandments of our fathers.  And I make an end.

Omni 1:1-9

We next turn to the Book of Omni.  This is an unusual book.  It has multiple authors, some writing no more than three verses.  It covers a period of about 200 years.  This book filled the remaining small plates.[1]

One purpose of Omni is a record of Nephite genealogy.

Their sacred books were valued by the Nephites as a record of their ancestry. Lehi₁ rejoiced to find his genealogy on the brass plates (see 1 Nephi 5:16–17). Later, the record of Nephi was added to specifically so "that [the Nephites'] genealogy may be kept" (Jarom 1:1; compare Omni 1:1).[2]

An additional purpose of Omni is to establish a chain of custody of the plates.

[T]he chain of custody⁹⁸ for the Book of Mormon record is unbroken⁹⁹ (which explains the inclusion of the otherwise puzzling book of Omni). That these record keepers took their charge seriously, and testified that they had custody of the record, even when they gave little other information about themselves, their families (except as it was relevant to the task of record keeping), or their times may be an indication of the authenticity of the record.[3]

We get some insight into who Omni was.

Jarom's son Omni fought for the Nephites, but there is no evidence that he did so as a military leader or that he had any religious calling. Far from it, he confessed he was a "wicked man" (Omni 1:2).[4]

Omni is writing his record between 323 B.C. – 317 B.C.  During that time, there were periods of peace and war.  He ends his writings telling us he passed the records onto his son, Amaron.

Amaron is writing his record around 280 B.C.  He tells us he writes few things in “the book of my father.”  Around this time, there must have been wars as Amaron tells us “the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed.”

Amaron, after telling us about the destruction, reminds us of the Lord promise.  “And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search [the records] diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers” (Mosiah 1:7).

Amaron writes the Lord would not suffer that the righteous be destroyed.  Referring to Lehi’s party in the old world, he writes the Lord “preserved them from falling into the hands of their enemies.”  This gives us some insight into Lehi’s party journey across the Arabian peninsula. 

Amaron … writes of God's preserving Lehi's party from "the hands of their enemies" (Omni 1:6; Alma 9:10). Who were these enemies? According to the fuller part of Nephi's narrative, it was not anyone whom party members met between the first camp and Nahom. The most attractive possibility is that the group met such people on the leg of the journey between Nahom and the seacoast, even though Nephi himself does not mention enemies.⁹⁸ (Nephi's abbreviated account of crossing south Arabia from Nahom consists of only four verses, 1 Nephi 17:1–4.) Such a view strengthens the impression that the toughest and longest period of the trip came between Nahom and the sea.[5]

While the Nephites suffered the judgments of the Lord, the righteous were spared and “delivered them out of the hands of their enemies.” 

This lack of either government or religious authority among Jacob's descendants does not mean that the Nephites had fallen into a complete dark age. Although they were not prophets themselves, these writers tell us prophets still lived among them. Enos even spoke of "exceedingly many" unnamed prophets (Enos 1:22). Jarom told of men "who [had] many revelations, mighty men in faith of the Lord" (Jarom 1:4, 7). Amaron spoke of the Lord's sparing the righteous portion of the Nephites during his day, proving there was a righteous remnant (see Omni 1:7).[6]

Now I, Chemish, write what few things I write, in the same book with my brother; for behold, I saw the last which he wrote, that he wrote it with his own hand; and he wrote it in the day that he delivered them unto me.  And after this manner we keep the ^arecords, for it is according to the commandments of our fathers.  And I make an end.

This ends Amaron’s part of the record.  His brother, Chemish, receives the records.  We can infer that Amaron had no sons.  Begin righteous was not a requirement of keeping the records, as we saw with Omni’s confession of his sinful life.

His entire contribution consists of one verse.  All we know about Chemish is that he continues where his brother ended his part of the record.  “[A]fter this manner we keep the records, for it is according to the commandments of our fathers.”  And this ends Chemish’s contribution to the plates.

---

[1] To All the World, Marilyn Arnold, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 5, 2014.

[2] The Book of Mormon as a Mesoamerican Record, John L. Sorenson, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 5, 2014.

[3] Women In the Book of Mormon: Inclusion, Exclusion, and Interpretation, Camille S. Williams, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 5, 2014.

[4] Jacob and His Descendants as Authors, John S. Tanner, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 5, 2014

[5] New Light from Arabia on Lehi's Trail, S. Kent Brown, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 5, 2014.

[6] Jacob and His Descendants as Authors, John S. Tanner, Maxwell Institute, accessed June 5, 2014.