Chapter 11
Nephite coinage set
forth—Amulek contends with Zeezrom—Christ will not save people in their
sins—Only those who inherit the kingdom of heaven are saved—All men shall rise
in immortality—There is no death after the resurrection. About 82 B.C.
1 NOW it was in the
law of Mosiah that every man who was a judge of the law, or those who were
appointed to be judges, should receive wages according to the time which they
labored to judge those who were brought before them to be judged.
2 Now if a man owed
another, and he would not pay that which he did owe, he was complained of to
the judge; and the judge executed authority, and sent forth officers that the
man should be brought before him; and he judged the man according to the law
and the evidences which were brought against him, and thus the man was
compelled to pay that which he owed, or be stripped, or be cast out from among
the people as a thief and a robber.
3 And the judge
received for his wages according to his time—a senine of gold for a day, or a
senum of silver, which is equal to a senine of gold; and this is according to
the law which was given.
4 Now these are the
names of the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver, according to
their value. And the names are given by
the Nephites, for they did not reckon after the manner of the Jews who were at
Jerusalem; neither did they measure after the manner of the Jews; but they
altered their reckoning and their measure, according to the minds and the
circumstances of the people, in every generation, until the reign of the
judges, they having been established by king Mosiah.
5 Now the reckoning is
thus—a senine of gold, a seon of gold, a shum of gold, and a limnah of gold.
6 A senum of silver,
an amnor of silver, an ezrom of silver, and an onti of silver.
7 A senum of silver
was equal to a senine of gold, and either for a measure of barley, and also for
a measure of every kind of grain.
8 Now the amount of a
seon of gold was twice the value of a senine.
9 And a shum of gold
was twice the value of a seon.
10 And a limnah of
gold was the value of them all.
11 And an amnor of
silver was as great as two senums.
12 And an ezrom of
silver was as great as four senums.
13 And an onti was as
great as them all.
14 Now this is the
value of the lesser numbers of their reckoning—
15 A shiblon is half
of a senum; therefore, a shiblon for half a measure of barley.
16 And a shiblum is a
half of a shiblon.
17 And a leah is the
half of a shiblum.
18 Now this is their
number, according to their reckoning.
19 Now an antion of
gold is equal to three shiblons.
20 Now, it was for the
sole purpose to get gain, because they received their wages according to their
employ, therefore, they did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of
disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ, that they might
get money according to the suits which were brought before them; therefore they
did stir up the people against Alma and Amulek.
Alma 11:1-20
Mormon breaks into the narrative to give us some background
information on Nephite society. We learn
that the Nephites follow the law of Mosiah.
“The law of Mosiah departed most significantly from traditional law by
providing that judges would be paid for their services (see Alma 11:1)[1].
This is not paralleled in other Near Eastern systems, although the fixing of
wages for various other laborers was one of the main subjects of several
ancient Near Eastern law codes.”[2]
In place of kingship, Mosiah
created a unique system of judges subject to the voice of the people. From what
is known about this legal reform, it appears that each judge was chosen by
popular voice, "that every man should have an equal chance"; higher
judges judged the lower judges, and a selected body of lower judges judged the
higher judges (Mosiah 29:25—29, 38). This law set new precedents by providing
that judges should be paid; it also established an Egyptian-style system of
measures for exchanging various grains and precious metals (Alma 11:1, 4—19)…[3]
If a debtor refused to pay his debts, he could be brought
before a judge. “[D]efaulting debtors
faced banishment (Alma 11:2). There were officers (Alma 11:2) and lawyers who
assisted, but their official functions are not clear. It appears that ordinary
citizens had sole power to initiate lawsuits (otherwise, the judges would have
brought the action against Nephi2 in Helaman 8:1).”[4]
A judge would be paid a senine of gold of senum of silver
for a day of service. Mormon gives us
insight into the Nephite monetary system.
This table gives us information about that system.
King
Mosiah’s Monetary System
King Mosiah’s system
of weights and measures established equivalencies in amounts of gold, silver,
and grains. This chart compares the
precious metals with their grain equivalents, as described in Alma 11. The measurements for the most part increase
exponentially, much like the ancient Egyptian system of measurement. In King Mosiah’s system, the limnah or onti,
worth “the value of … all” (Alma 11:10), was worth the sum of the gold senine,
seon, and shum or the silver senum, amnor, and ezrom.[5]
|
Silver
Measure
|
Gold
Equivalent
|
Grain
Equivalent
|
Math
Ratio
|
|
leah
|
|
1/8 measure
|
1 or 20
|
|
shiblum
|
|
1/4 measure
|
2 or 21
|
|
shiblon
|
|
1/2 measure
|
4 or 22
|
|
senum
|
senine
|
1 measure
|
8 or 23
|
|
|
antion
|
1 1/2 measures
|
12
|
|
amnor
|
seon
|
2 measures
|
12 or 24
|
|
ezrom
|
shum
|
4 measures
|
23 or 25
|
|
onti
|
limnah
|
7 measures
|
|
It’s time to take a break and point out what can only be
called a lie perpetrated by critics of the Church. The lie consists of saying the monetary
system consisted of coins, and coins have not been found in the Book of Mormon
region; therefore, this proves it’s a fraud. And, they might have a point
except for when the truth is heard.
The word “coin” in any of its possible forms appears nowhere
in the Book of Mormon. The only place
you find any mention of coins is in the heading to Chapter 11. It says, “Nephite
coinage set forth.” The chapter
headings were put in years after it was published. Someone, somewhere, interpreted the monetary
system as consisting of coins and wrote a heading that reflects that. It comes down to this: No Nephite coins have been found because
there were no Nephite coins.
If there were no problems needing lawyers and judges, they
would receive more money. So, the
lawyers and judges became the Nephite version of “ambulance chasers.” They did all they could to stir up all types
of problems that violated the law of Mosiah, thereby getting more money. This is why the stirred the people up against
Alma and Amulek. Talking to lawyers, the
Savior said, “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge[6]:
ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered” (Luke
11:52).
The unrighteousness of the
Ammonihahite lawyers and judges consisted not so much in their chosen
profession, but rather that "their hearts [were] set so much upon the
things of this world" (D&C 121:35). The record is clear that it was
their "sole purpose to get gain" (Alma 11:20). Their law and their
lucre had become their God. Their craving for the things of this world was so
intense that "they did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of
disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ, that they might
get money according to the suits which were brought before them" (Alma
11:20). Possibly this emphasis on "gain" as a driving force of the
order of Nehor was a major reason that Alma 11 includes the only extant
scriptural account of the Nephite monetary system.[7]
[1] We
will learn “this compensatory system would quickly be abused in the city of
Ammonihah (v. 20)…” The
Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon – The Trial of Nehor, Maxwell Institute,
accessed April 2, 2015.
[2] Reexploring
the Book of Mormon – The Law of Mosiah, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute,
accessed April 2, 2015.
[3] To
All the World – Mosiah2, Paul Rytting, Maxwell Institute,
accessed April 2, 2015.
[4] To
All the World – Government and Legal History in the Book of Mormon, Maxwell
Institute, accessed April 2, 2015.
[5] Charting the Book of Mormon, John W.
Welch and J. Gregory Welch, Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies,
Provo, UT, Chart 110.
[6] JST
Luke 11:53 ... knowledge, the fulness of
the scriptures; ye enter
not in yourselves into the kingdom; and those
who were entering in, ye hindered.;
Luke 1:77.
[7] The
Temple in Time and Eternity – Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah,
Thomas R. Valletta, Maxwell Institute, accessed April 2, 2015.
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