10 Wherefore, it came
to pass that after Amaleki had delivered up these plates into the hands of king
Benjamin, he took them and put them with the other plates, which contained
records which had been handed down by the kings, from generation to generation
until the days of king Benjamin.
11 And they were
handed down from king Benjamin, from generation to generation until they have
fallen into my hands. And I, Mormon,
pray to God that they may be preserved from this time henceforth. And I know that they will be preserved; for
there are great things written upon them, out of which my people and their
brethren shall be judged at the great and last day, according to the word of
God which is written.
12 And now, concerning
this king Benjamin—he had somewhat of contentions among his own people.
13 And it came to pass
also that the armies of the Lamanites came down out of the land of Nephi, to
battle against his people. But behold,
king Benjamin gathered together his armies, and he did stand against them; and he
did fight with the strength of his own arm, with the sword of Laban.
14 And in the strength
of the Lord they did contend against their enemies, until they had slain many
thousands of the Lamanites. And it came
to pass that they did contend against the Lamanites until they had driven them
out of all the lands of their inheritance.
Words of Mormon 1:10-14
After having told us some things about him, Mormon returns
to the record. There are two sets of
plates, the large plates of Nephi (“Upon
the other plates should be engraven an account of the reign of the kings, and
the wars and contentions of my people; wherefore these plates are for the more
part of the ministry; and the other plates are for the more part of the reign
of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people” [1 Nephi 9:4]) and
the small plates of Nephi.
The large plates were kept by the king. “And I,
Jarom, do not write more, for the plates are small. But behold, my brethren, ye can go to the other
plates of Nephi; for behold, upon them the records of our wars are engraven,
according to the writings of the kings, or those which they caused to be
written” (Jarom 1:14). On these
plates were kept the historical record of the Nephites.
The small plates of Nephi had been kept by descendants of
Lehi. Nephi passed the plates on to his
brother, Jacob. For four hundred years,
the plates had been handed down from father to son (or, in one case, a
brother). When we reach Amaleki, we
learn he has no son. He decides to pass
the small plates on to the king, King Benjamin.
For the first time, we have only one custodian of the plates.
Benjamin held these records, along
with the large plates of Nephi that had been entrusted to him by his father,
Mosiah (see Words of Mormon 1:10), thereby consolidating for the first
time since Nephi these important elements of Nephite religious leadership and
political power in the hands of a single individual.[1]
Once the two sets of plates were turned over to one person,
King Benjamin, they were never given to two separate people. They were passed
down from generation-to-generation, ending up with Mormon.
Mormon is sure they will be preserved because of the great
things written upon them. The day will
come when “my people and their brethren
shall be judged.” Nephi knew this,
writing, “Wherefore, he shall bring forth
his words unto them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they
shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who
was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look
forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it
should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save
one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be
rejected of the Jews” (2 Nephi 25:18).
The Savior told the Nephites, “For
behold, out of the books which have been written, and which shall be written,
shall this people be judged, for by them shall their works be known unto men” (3
Nephi 27:25).
During his reign, King Benjamin faced contentions among his
people as well as a major battle against the Lamanites. Benjamin led the army fought against the
Lamanites. As the king, he wielded the
sword of Laban.
King Benjamin functioned much like a Hebrew king would be
expected to function.
[T]he Hebrew king was responsible
for the "functions of judicial and political administration"; he
acted as judge, and was also "called upon to fulfill a political task, in
the course of which he also took upon himself the religious functions";
and he was "commissioned by God to administer justice."9Benjamin
clearly filled these perennial roles: as warrior, he had led the Nephites into
victorious battle against invading troops and quelled rebellion in his own
lands (see Words of Mormon 1:12–16); as judge, it is evident that he had
established justice and enforced the laws against slavery, murder, theft,
adultery, and "any manner of wickedness" (Mosiah 2:13); and as
religious leader, he received revelation from God and inspired his people in
righteousness.[2]
The Lord was with the Nephites and they prevailed in the
battle. Jarom described battle with the
Lamanites. “And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the
Nephites, to battle. But our kings and
our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the
people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept
them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever
place of our inheritance” (Jarom 1:7).
As a result of this war, Benjamin
was able to "[drive the Lamanites] out of all the lands of [Nephite]
inheritance" (Words of Mormon 1:14), thereby protecting and affirming his
territory as a land subject to his jurisdiction and governed by the prevailing
Nephite laws. Benjamin thus administered a defined area, referred to as
"the land of Zarahemla" (Omni 1:12; Mosiah 2:4), although the size of
this territory is unknown.[3]
[1]
Benjamin,
the Man: His Place in Nephite History, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute,
accessed June 18, 2014.
[2]
Kingship.
Coronation, and Covenant in Mosiah 1–6, Stephen D. Ricks, Maxwell
Institute, accessed June 18, 2014.
[3]
Benjamin,
the Man: His Place in Nephite History, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute,
accessed June 18, 2014.
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