Chapter 63
Shiblon and later
Helaman take possession of the sacred records—Many Nephites travel to the land
northward—Hagoth builds ships, which sail forth in the west sea—Moronihah
defeats the Lamanites in battle. About 56–52 B.C.
The Nephites are at peace. Their government has been
restored and the Lamanites were defeated.
Before Helaman died, he passed the plates to his brother,
Shiblon. We will later learn that Helaman2 had a son named Helaman3.
Why he did not pass them to his son is not mentioned in the record. Two possibilities are he was too young at the
time of his father’s death or Helaman3, while old enough to receive
the records, was, for whatever reason, not ready to receive the plates.
He passed on sacred things. “And [King Benjamin] also taught
[his sons] concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass,
saying: My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plates,
which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance,
even at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God” (Mosiah 1:3). “And
now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted
with me … And these plates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have
the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the genealogy of our
forefathers, even from the beginning” (Alma 38:1,3).
After the war ended, General Moroni died. He was a young
man, in his forties at the time of his death. It is not surprising he died a
young man. He suffered numerous injuries during the wars he fought to defend
Nephite freedom. He was a great and faithful man, serving his people and the
Lord.
Around 55 B.C., a group of over ten thousand men, women, and
children left Zarahemla and traveled into the land northward.[1]
We are also introduced to a man named Hagoth. He is
described as a curious man and a ship builder.[2]
The ship and travelled to explore the land northward. Many Nephites on the
ship.
About a year later, the ship returned. Hagoth built other ships and more Nephites
left to travel with on the ship. Alma’s
son, Corianton, left on one of the ships. Nothing more is heard from the
people.[3] It is generally believed the people found and
settles in the Polynesian Islands.
The promises concerning the
descendants of Lehi are not confined to those on the lands of North and South
America either, but include many who are upon the isles of the sea. Elder Mark
E. Peterson taught, “As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the
Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American
Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men” (in Conference Report,
April 1962, 112). Elder Howard W. Hunter likewise stated: “It has been the
position of the Church that Polynesians are related to the American Indians as
descendants of Father Lehi, having migrated to the Pacific from America. . . .
Our belief in this regard is scriptural (see Alma 63:4–10).”[4]
Shiblon was approaching the end of his life. He knew the time had come to pass the sacred
things to his nephew, Helaman3.
There is reason to believe that
when successive portions of the master record were added, they were labeled
“the book of so-and-so” even though they were integral parts of “the plates of
Nephi.” While named after the principal individual who began each section, they
sometimes also included records kept by that person’s descendants (e.g., Alma
63:17, “the account of Alma, and Helaman his son, and also Shiblon, who was his
son”). It seems reasonable that each of the component books represented a
number of metal plates manufactured at the onset of the named scribe’s tenure;
these would have been filled up by him and his descendants, after which a new
major writer would craft new plates and begin another installment of the
ongoing historical record.[5]
Nephite dissenters, who had joined the Lamanites, stirred
them up and they attacked the city of Moronihah. The Nephites successfully beat the Lamanites,
but the suffered great losses.
[1] “[T]he
land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was
called Bountiful, it being the wilderness which is filled with all manner of
wild animals of every kind, a part of which had come from the land northward
for food” (Alma 22:31); “And it came to pass in the forty and sixth, yea, there
was much contention and many dissensions; in the which there were an
exceedingly great many who departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and went
forth unto the land northward to inherit the land” (Helaman 3:3).
[2]
This is why he is called Hagoth, the ship builder.
[3] Hagoth
was a Nephite shipbuilder who constructed ships that took colonizers into the
land northward (see Alma 63:5). Contrary to LDS folklore, there is no
indication in the text that Hagoth himself sailed on any of them (see Alma
63:6–9). Book
of Mormon Names Attested in Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions, John A. Tvedtnes,
John Gee, and Matthew Roper, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/1 (2000): 47.
[4] Losing
the Remnant: The New Exclusivist “Movement” and the Book of Mormon, Matthew
Roper, FARMS Review 22/2 (2010): 113, footnote 50.
[5] Mormon’s
Sources, John L. Sorenson, Journal of Book of Mormon and Other Restoration
Scripture, 2011, Volume 20, Number 2: 11.
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