Alma 11:1-21

Chapter 11

The Nephite monetary system is 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 will 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.

21 And this Zeezrom began to question Amulek, saying: Will ye answer me a few questions which I shall ask you? Now Zeezrom was a man who was expert in the devices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good; therefore, he said unto Amulek: Will ye answer the questions which I shall put unto you? (Alma 11:1-21)

Under Nephite law, as established by King Mosiah, judges were to paid for the time they spent as a judge.

Mormon gives us an example of the Nephite judicial process. If one person owes another a certain amount of money, he was expected to pay the debt. Should the debtor refuse to pay the debt, he could be brought before a judge. A complaint was filed and the debtor was brought before the judge. Evidence would be presented, and the judge would make a ruling. If the judge ruled against the debtor, he pronounced punishment. The debtor could be forced to pay the debt, be stripped, “or be cast out among the people as a thief and a robber” (Alma 11:2).

The judge was paid according to the amount of time he spent acting as a judge.

Having touched upon the Nephite monetary system (“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” (Alma 11:3)), Mormon breaks into his record and explains the Nephite monetary system.

“Why would one bring up these incidental economic nuts and bolts at such a point in the record?

“Several reasons might explain why this information was included at this point in the Book of Mormon. For one thing, these short metrological details are not only intertwined with the debate between Amulek and Zeezrom (see Alma 11:21–25), but they also provide an important building block in Mormon’s grand narrative. By abusing the justice system and misusing the lawful weights and measures, the wicked people of Ammonihah effectively opened the floodgates of God’s judgment upon themselves, a pattern that would apply later to Nephite civilization as a whole...

“It should be clear … we are talking here about weights and measures, not coins. When the Book of Mormon speaks of ‘the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver,’ as well as naming them ‘according to their value’ (Alma 11:4), we should probably not think that it is referring to minted coins. Rather, the term pieces most likely refers to metallic weights of some sort. The first coins known to history—at least coins in the modern sense—appeared in Lydia in western Asia Minor by the seventh century BC, spreading into the Mediterranean region only after Lehi had left Jerusalem. As in other ancient cultures, the Nephites seem to have used weighted pieces of metal as payment for measured amounts of grain.”[1]

Mormon then explains the monetary system (see Alma 11:5-19). “Mormon is trying to set the stage for the bribe that follows and that the bribe was made in terms familiar to both the ‘briber’ (Zeezrom) and the ‘bribee’ (Amulek). These terms may no longer have been in use in Mormon’s day and so would not have been part of his vocabulary. It seems much more likely that Mormon draws these words from the text he is abridging. But the passage in question provides good authorship evidence for the Book of Mormon. It demonstrates that the abridger (Mormon) had a document from which he was working and knew that he would have to insert the explanatory material in order that his future audience might understand the enormity of the bribe.”[2]

Lawyers did not hesitate to cause problems. If there were problems, they had clients. If they had clients, they got paid. So, they set the people against Alma and Amulek.

“Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

“Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me;

“The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day” (Lamentations 3:60-62).

Zeezrom questioned them. Mormon tells us he “was a man who was expert in the devices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good” (Alma 11:21). He asked Amulek if he would be willing to answer a few questions.

“Ostensibly appointed to administer the law on behalf of the people, Mormon indicates that Ammonihah’s unique political class of lawyers ‘did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of disturbances and wickedness’ in order to ‘have more employ’ since their ‘sole purpose [was] to get gain’ (Alma 11:20). This class was not a part of the original structure outlined by Mosiah₂, but developed during the first eight years of the reign of the judges. If Mormon’s account is accurate, this group often escalated disputes. If the ideal purpose of the new government was to provide means for all to enjoy their rights and privileges, the introduction of these lawyers had the potential of destroying that liberty by lionizing or demonizing those on the other side of a dispute, actually inflaming the problem rather than alleviating it. Yet this class appeared to have become an essential part of the political-legal system of Ammonihah.[3]

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[1] Weighing and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute website.

[2] Not Your Everyday Wordprint Study: Variations on a Theme, John A. Tvedtnes, Maxwell Institute website.

[3] “And it came to pass . . .”: The Sociopolitical Events in the Book of Mormon Leading to the Eighteenth Year of the Reign of the Judges, Dan Belnap,  Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 23 (2014): 116.