Chapter 11
King Noah rules in wickedness—He revels in riotous
living with his wives and concubines—Abinadi prophesies that the people will be
taken into bondage—His life is sought by King Noah. About 160–150 B.C.
1 AND now it came to pass that Zeniff conferred the
kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons; therefore Noah began to reign in his stead;
and he did not walk in the ways of his father.
2 For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God,
but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. And he had many wives and concubines. And he did cause his people to commit sin,
and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner
of wickedness.
3 And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they
possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of
their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron; and a fifth
part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain.
4 And all this did he take to support himself, and his
wives and his concubines; and also his priests, and their wives and their
concubines; thus he had changed the affairs of the kingdom.
5 For he put down all the priests that had been
consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as
were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.
6 Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness,
and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had
put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.
7 Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they
were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for
they did speak flattering things unto them.
8 And it came to pass that king Noah built many
elegant and spacious buildings; and he ornamented them with fine work of wood,
and of all manner of precious things, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and
of brass, and of ziff, and of copper;
9 And he also built him a spacious palace, and a
throne in the midst thereof, all of which was of fine wood and was ornamented
with gold and silver and with precious things.
10 And he also caused that
his workmen should work all manner of fine work within the walls of the temple,
of fine wood, and of copper, and of brass.
11 And the seats which were
set apart for the high priests, which were above all the other seats, he did ornament
with pure gold; and he caused a breastwork to be built before them, that they
might rest their bodies and their arms upon while they should speak lying and
vain words to his people.
12 And it came to pass that
he built a tower near the temple; yea, a very high tower, even so high that he
could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the
land of Shemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites; and he could even look
over all the land round about.
13 And it came to pass that
he caused many buildings to be built in the land Shilom; and he caused a great
tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom, which had been a resort
for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land; and thus he
did do with the riches which he obtained by the taxation of his people.
14 And it came to pass that
he placed his heart upon his riches, and he spent his time in riotous living
with his wives and his concubines; and so did also his priests spend their time
with harlots.
15 And it came to pass that
he planted vineyards round about in the land; and he built wine–presses, and
made wine in abundance; and therefore he became a wine–bibber, and also his
people.
Mosiah 11:1-15
Zeniff has passed the
kingship to his son, Noah. Even though
we don’t know anything about the alternatives, we can still say that Noah was a
disastrous choice. Zeniff may not have
been the greatest leader and made mistakes, but this one was a doozy!
However, as we will see,
Noah’s rule (especially the selection of priests) will lead to major changes in
the religious organization among the Nephites.
Mormon, resuming his
abridgment of the Book of Mormon tells us, “[Noah] did not walk in the ways of
his father … he walked after the desires of his own heart.” He had many wives and concubines. He caused the people to commit all manner of
sins, including whoredoms, which are repugnant sins in the eyes of the Lord.
In the history of Israel, a
king causing his people to sin was a common occurrence. For example,
“And Nadab the son of
Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah,
and reigned over Israel two years.
“And he did evil in the sight
of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he
made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 15:25-26).
The prophet Ahijah went
before the king of Israel and told him, “And he shall give Israel up because of
the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 14:16). Describing king Noah, Mosiah said, “Yea,
remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations, and also the
wickedness and abominations of his people.
Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of
their iniquities they were brought into bondage” (Mosiah 29:18).
In telling the people about
the concerns of a king, Mosiah told them, “For behold I say unto you, the sins
of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore
their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings” (Mosiah 29:31).
It was Nephite tradition a
king supported himself. Benjamin
emphasizes he worked to provide for his and his family’s needs (see Mosiah
2:14). Mosiah2 worked to take
care of his family, following his father’s example. Noah, on the other hand, decided the people
should support him. He followed
Pharaoh’s example with his tax rate (see Genesis 47:24). The people were required to pay a 20% tax,
which was apparently unheard of at that time.
This was required of all their possessions; their gold, silver, copper,
and ziff (a footnote in the Book of Mormon tell us “Ziff - HEB related words:
adjective, "shining"; verb, "to overlay or plate with
metal.” They also paid on the animals
and grains. Noah failed to follow
Solomon’s advice, “Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that
keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance” (Proverbs 29:3).
Noah was apparently the head
of the local church. One of the first
things he did was to get rid of his father’s priests and replaced them with his
choices. They were just like Noah. They were lazy, wicked, and lived off the
taxes of the people.
Under the leadership of
Noah’s priests, they people became an idolatrous people. Noah spent the tax money he collected not on
the people, but rather on luxurious buildings.
They were adorned with wood and precious metals. He also built a huge palace and fancy
throne.
The
temple was a work of fine and expensive material outside the temple. The inside was no different. There was “all
manner of fine work within the walls of the temple from fine wood, and of
copper, and of brass.”
The
high priests had their own seats. They
were set apart from other seats in the temple.
They were very expensive seats.
They were “built … that they might
rest their bodies and their arms upon while they should speak lying and vain
words to his people.” Mormon makes
it very clear what he thinks about the type of men Noah selected to be high
priests to his people. They were just
like him.
The
Book of Mormon uses “high priest” in different ways, depending on the
situation. Daniel C. Peterson explains
its use in verse 11.
“According
to Mosiah 11:11, King Noah had ‘high priest.’ It may be that we are here
referring to an office analogous to that of high priest (i.e., a priest of the
higher priesthood, as opposed to a priest of the Aaronic order) in the
contemporary church, which many are able to hold simultaneously.”[1]
Noah
also built a high tower, one that was so high he could stand at the top and see
the lands of Shilom and Shemlon and the land surrounding them. This description gives us some idea of the
area covered. “A good deal of Nephite
history takes place in a land so small that its whole expanse can be surveyed
from the top of a high tower (Mosiah 11:12).”[2]
In Mormon’s Map, we also read, “Events in
the reigns of the Zeniffite kings Noah and Limhi shed light on distances in the
local land of Nephi and its vicinity (the land and city at that time were
called Lehi-Nephi, probably at the insistence of the Lamanite overlords, but
for simplicity we will use the old term, Nephi). Noah ‘built a tower near the
temple [in the city of Nephi], even so high that he could stand upon the top
thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the land of Shemlon, which
was possessed by the Lamanites’ (Mosiah 11:12).”[3]
Buildings
were also built in Shilom. A tower was
also built there.
Hugh
Nibley tells us Noah was choosing poorly.
“There is one phrase occurring some fifteen times in the Book of Mormon
that starts the alarm bell ringing and the red lights flashing; the fatal words
are: ‘They set their hearts on riches.’”[4]
“Sometimes
those focused on economic inequality and separation perverted the laws to
achieve their ends … Noah placed a tax on his people of 20 percent on all
products and income, including their ziff, copper, brass, iron, fatlings, and
grain (see Mosiah 11:3). With these ill-gotten gains, King Noah created not a
society where righteousness and prosperity could flourish but ‘elegant and
spacious buildings,’ separate from the people, where he and his priests lived
licentiously (see Mosiah 11:8, 14–15).”[5]
Noah
and his priests lived a hedonistic lifestyle.
They had wives and concubines.
But that wasn’t enough for them.
They also spent time with painted women!
They also like their wine. Plenty
of wine was available, and they did their best to drink as much as possible.
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