11 Now, the Lamanites
knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they
depended upon their own strength. Yet
they were a strong people, as to the strength of men.
12 They were a wild,
and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, believing in the tradition of their
fathers, which is this—Believing that they were driven out of the land of
Jerusalem because of the iniquities of their fathers, and that they were wronged
in the wilderness by their brethren, and they were also wronged while crossing
the sea;
13 And again, that
they were wronged while in the land of their first inheritance, after they had
crossed the sea, and all this because that Nephi was more faithful in keeping
the commandments of the Lord—therefore he was favored of the Lord, for the Lord
heard his prayers and answered them, and he took the lead of their journey in
the wilderness.
14 And his brethren
were wroth with him because they understood not the dealings of the Lord; they
were also wroth with him upon the waters because they hardened their hearts
against the Lord.
15 And again, they
were wroth with him when they had arrived in the promised land, because they
said that he had taken the ruling of the people out of their hands; and they
sought to kill him.
16 And again, they
were wroth with him because he departed into the wilderness as the Lord had
commanded him, and took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass,
for they said that he robbed them.
17 And thus they have
taught their children that they should hate them, and that they should murder
them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to
destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of
Nephi.
18 For this very cause
has king Laman, by his cunning, and lying craftiness, and his fair promises,
deceived me, that I have brought this my people up into this land, that they
may destroy them; yea, and we have suffered these many years in the land.
19 And now I, Zeniff, after having told all
these things unto my people concerning the Lamanites, I did stimulate them to
go to battle with their might, putting their trust in the Lord; therefore, we
did contend with them, face to face.
20 And it came to pass
that we did drive them again out of our land; and we slew them with a great
slaughter, even so many that we did not number them.
21 And it came to pass
that we returned again to our own land, and my people again began to tend their
flocks, and to till their ground.
22 And now I, being
old, *did confer the kingdom upon one of my sons; therefore, I say
no more. And may the Lord bless my
people. Amen.
Mosiah 10:11-22
Why were the Lamanites such a blood-thirsty people? Zeniff tells us it was because of the
tradition of their fathers. In fact,
Zeniff gives us an excellent record of the Lamanite grievances. Nephi touched on some of their grievances.
1
BEHOLD, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God,
because of the anger of my brethren.
2
But behold, their anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to
take away my life.
3
Yea, they did murmur against me, saying: Our younger brother thinks to rule
over us; and we have had much trial because of him; wherefore, now let us slay
him, that we may not be afflicted more because of his words. For behold, we will not have him to be our
ruler; for it belongs unto us, who are the elder brethren, to rule over this
people.
2 Nephi 5:1-3
A list of their grievances include:
They were wronged in the New World by Nephi. “[H]e
was favored of the Lord … he took the lead of their journey in the wilderness.” As the eldest, Laman felt he should have
taken the lead.
Zeniff was one of the first to
defend the tradition of Nephi's rule. He explained that the younger brother
took the lead because he was righteous and was called of God … Zeniff further
claimed that Laman and Lemuel had hardened their hearts while on the sea, and
that Nephi "departed into the wilderness as the Lord had commanded him,
and took the . . . plates of brass" (Mosiah 10:13-16). This version of the
Nephite political tradition seems to have been standardized early in their
history.[1]
Because Laman and Lemuel hardened their hearts they were
angry and didn’t understand the Lord’s dealings with Nephi. This was such a major problem, Lehi addressed
it in his final blessing given to Laman and Lemuel.
24
Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been glorious, and who
hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath
been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of
promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with hunger in the
wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath
suffered much sorrow because of you.
25
And I exceedingly fear and tremble because of you, lest he shall suffer again;
for behold, ye have accused him that he sought power and authority over you;
but I know that he hath not sought for power nor authority over you, but he
hath sought the glory of God, and your own eternal welfare.
26
And ye have murmured because he hath been plain unto you. Ye say that he hath used sharpness; ye say
that he hath been angry with you; but behold, his sharpness was the sharpness
of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye call anger
was the truth, according to that which is in God, which he could not restrain,
manifesting boldly concerning your iniquities.
27
And it must needs be that the power of God must be with him, even unto his
commanding you that ye must obey. But
behold, it was not he, but it was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him,
which opened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it.
2 Nephi 1:24-27
Noel Reynolds further explains:
The Book of Mormon describes the
Lamanites as constantly seeking to dominate the Nephites … Hundreds of years
later, Zeniff reported that the Lamanites were still teaching their children to
hate Nephi's offspring, to murder and rob them, and even to "have an
eternal hatred" toward them. From what he had learned growing up in the
Nephite kingdom, Zeniff (a descendant of Mulek) said that all this hatred was
because Laman and Lemuel "understood not the dealings of the Lord"
and had "hardened their hearts against the Lord" (Mosiah 10:14-17).
No doubt the older brothers had ground into their families these anti-Nephi
teachings. By the second generation, the teachings had resulted in the
Lamanites' deadly intention to destroy not only the Nephites, but also their
records and traditions (Enos 1:14).[2]
The fact Nephi became the ruler over Lehi’s party after Lehi’s
death was a very sore spot with the Lamanites.
Nephi had robbed Laman and Lemuel when he took the brass
plates with him. They believed it was
theirs by right of Laman being the eldest son.
Nephite kingship seems to have been
connected with and even symbolized or legitimized by possession of certain
material objects.13 Thus,
Nephi took the brass plates with him when he abandoned the land of Nephi,
perhaps in part as a token of his legitimacy. That the Lamanites shared his
perception of the importance of the plates is shown in their oft-repeated claim
that, by taking them, he had "robbed them," just as "they said
that he had taken the ruling of the people out of their hands" (Mosiah
10:15–16; cf. 2 Nephi 5:3; Alma 20:10, 13). When Benjamin transferred the
kingdom to his son Mosiah, he also gave to Mosiah the brass plates, along with
the plates of Nephi, the sword of Laban, and the Liahona (Mosiah 1:15–16).[3]
To get their revenge, Lamanite tradition required the
children be taught to hate the Nephites, to murder, rob, and plunder whenever
possible. Their ultimate goal was the
total destruction of the children of Nephi.
This explains king Laman’s cunning when he agreed to give
Zeniff and his people the land of Lehi-Nephi.
He wanted to eventually destroy the Nephites.
Zeniff led them, once again, in battle against the
Lamanites. They went forth putting their
trust in the Lord. The Nephites were
again victorious; however, the slaughter was so great the dead were not
counted.
Zeniff was getting old and the time came to confer the
kingdom on one of his sons. His choice
was Noah. As we will see this was not a
good choice; however, Daniel Peterson does remind us we know nothing about the
alternatives.[4]
[1] Nephi's
Political Testament, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed September
11, 2014.
[3] Authority
in the Book of Mosiah, Daniel C. Peterson, Maxwell Institute, accessed September
11, 2014.
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