Chapter 19
Gideon seeks to slay
King Noah—The Lamanites invade the land—King Noah suffers death by fire—Limhi
rules as a tributary monarch. About 145–121 B.C.
1 AND it came to pass
that the army of the king returned, having searched in vain for the people of
the Lord.
2 And now behold, the
forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a
division among the remainder of the people.
3 And the lesser part
began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a
great contention among them.
4 And now there was a
man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to
the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would
slay the king.
5 And it came to pass
that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to
overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the
temple.
6 And Gideon pursued
after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king
cast his eyes round about towards the land of Shemlon, and behold, the army of
the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.
7 And now the king
cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, spare me, for the
Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us; yea, they will destroy my
people.
8 And now the king was
not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life;
nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.
9 And the king
commanded the people that they should flee before the Lamanites, and he himself
did go before them, and they did flee into the wilderness, with their women and
their children.
10 And it came to pass
that the Lamanites did pursue them, and did overtake them, and began to slay
them.
11 Now it came to pass
that the king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives and
their children, and flee before the Lamanites.
12 Now there were many
that would not leave them, but had rather stay and perish with them. And the rest left their wives and their
children and fled.
13 And it came to pass
that those who tarried with their wives and their children caused that their
fair daughters should stand forth and plead with the Lamanites that they would
not slay them.
14 And it came to pass
that the Lamanites had compassion on them, for they were charmed with the
beauty of their women.
15 Therefore the Lamanites
did spare their lives, and took them captives and carried them back to the land
of Nephi, and granted unto them that they might possess the land, under the
conditions that they would deliver up king Noah into the hands of the
Lamanites, and deliver up their property, even one half of all they possessed,
one half of their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things, and
thus they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites from year to year.
Mosiah 19:1-15
The army that had been searching for Alma1’s
congregation returned, having failed to find them. The army was small and, within Noah’s people,
they were divided. Some began to murmur about
the King and threatened him.
One man in particular was fed up with Noah. Gideon drew his sword and swore he would kill
the king. He fought with Noah and, when
he was about to be killed, Noah ran to the tower near the temple. Gideon was about to climb onto the tower, when
Noah saw an army of the Lamanites was approaching the borders of his kingdom.
Verse 6 gives us some information about distances in the
land of Shemlon. “From this tower Noah
spotted a Lamanite army coming up out of the land of Shemlon toward Nephi (see Mosiah
19:6). For a Zeniffite to have such a view, the distance to Shilom could hardly
have exceeded ten miles and the near border of Shemlon would have been within
twenty miles.”[1] We had a better understanding of what is meant
by wilderness. “[A]s in the Old World
the ‘wilderness’ in question was not jungle, for when Gideon chased the wicked
king to the top of the tower, the two could see from there that ‘the army of
the Lamanites were within the borders of the land’ (Mosiah 19:6), which means
that the invading host had only the poorest sort of cover.”[2]
Noah cried out to Gideon, begging him to spare his
life. The Lamanite army was coming and
he was concerned about the safety of his people. Gideon spared his life.
Mormon informs us something we already assumed. Noah did not care on whit about his
people. He was more concerned about
saving his sorry old hide. “Here's a
comment on the character of [Noah] in verse 8. The king wasn't really
interested in his people—it was his own life he wanted to save. That reflects
on his character. You notice [Noah's] greatest sin was not lechery or luxury;
it was his meanness. He was a mean, petty person. He had no feelings for
anybody else but a great deal for himself. It's characteristic here of people
with great power.”[3]
The king and his people fled from the Lamanites, taking their
families with them. Unfortunately, the
Lamanite army caught up to them, and began to kill them.
Noah commanded the men to leave their families behind and
save their sorry lives. Many refused,
but there were a few cowards. They left
them behind to they could save themselves.
The reader is led to see the
contrasting lives, not just of Alma and Amulon, but of the people of Limhi and
Alma and the people of Amulon. Both Alma and Amulon led colonies into the
wilderness: Alma and his people, when Noah's soldiers discovered their "movement,"
"took their tents and their families and departed into the
wilderness" (Mosiah 18:32, 34). Amulon and his followers also fled into
the wilderness, but at Noah's command they left their families behind (see Mosiah
19:11-23). The wicked priests abandoned
their wives when King Noah "commanded them that all the men should leave
their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites" (Mosiah
19:11), then they went about trying to find substitute wives.[4]
Those that stayed behind had their daughters plead with the
Lamanites to spare them. The Lamanites
were charmed by the beauty and please of the daughters. They chose to spare them.
There was a price.
They agreed to live in Lamanite captivity. They would be allowed to possess the land of
Nephi. They agreed to deliver King Noah
to the Lamanites. They would pay
one-half of all their possessions to the Lamanite king each year.
[1] Mormon's
Map – Distances and Directions, Maxwell Institute, accessed November 1,
2014.
[2] The
Nature of Book of Mormon Society, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed November
1, 2014.
[3] Teachings
of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2 – Lecture 37: Mosiah 19-20, Maxwell
Institute, accessed November 1, 2014.
[4] The
Stealing of the Daughters of the Lamanites, Alan Goff, Maxwell Institute,
accessed November 1, 2014.
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