The Book of Mosiah
Chapter 1
King Benjamin teaches
his sons the language and prophecies of their fathers—Their religion and
civilization have been preserved because of the records kept on the various
plates—Mosiah is chosen as king and is given custody of the records and other
things. About 130–124 B.C.
1 And now there was no
more contention in all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who belonged
to king Benjamin, so that king Benjamin had continual peace all the remainder
of his days.
2 And it came to pass
that he had three sons; and he called their names Mosiah, and Helorum, and
Helaman. And he caused that they should be taught in all the language of his
fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding; and that they
might know concerning the prophecies which had been spoken by the mouths of
their fathers, which were delivered them by the hand of the Lord.
3 And he also taught
them 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.
4 For it were not
possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have
taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for
he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read
these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach
them to their children, and so fulfilling the commandments of God, even down to
this present time.
5 I say unto you, my
sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the
hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his
commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled
in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who
know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are
taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct.
(Mosiah 1:1-5)
After defeating the Lamanite army, there was peace in the
land during Benjamin’s reign.
Benjamin had three sons. He taught them “in all the language
of his fathers” so they would understand the teachings and prophecies which had
been spoken and written by their fathers.
“And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry,
or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and
fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of
sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he
being an enemy to all righteousness.
“But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and
soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another” (Mosiah
4:14-15).
“Benjamin’s ultimate hope for his people and his own sons
(cf. Mosiah 1:2–7) was that they would, like himself, choose to ‘become men
[and women] of understanding’ (Mosiah 1:2)—the ‘children of Christ, his sons
and his daughters’ (Mosiah 5:7)— who would one day be found in the place of
honor reserved for the paradigmatic Son of the right hand, the Savior Jesus
Christ (see Acts 2:33; Moroni 7:27; D&C 20:24; 76:19–24; and Luke 3:7
JST).”[1]
In the Book of Mormon, we occasionally see an interesting
phrase similar to this example. “And
[King Benjamin] caused that [his sons] should be taught in all the language of
his fathers” (Mosiah 1:2). This is an interesting phrase. It seems obvious they
would be taught in the language used by the Nephites. This raises the question,
had the language of the Nephites changed over the previous 450 years?
“For the Nephites, their language and texts were
instrumental in the retention of their cultural significance and were thus
potentially threatened by the presence of the larger, preexisting culture of
the Mulekites.
“This concern may manifest itself in explicit textual
references to the Nephite elite being taught the Nephite language.
Approximately one generation following the Mulekite-Nephite convergence,
Benjamin ‘caused that [his sons] should be taught in all the language of his
fathers’ (Mosiah 1:2). Zeniff, a contemporary of Benjamin who attempted a
permanent reclamation of the ancestral land of Nephi, made a similar
declaration: ‘I, Zeniff, having been taught in all the language of the Nephites
. . .’ (Mosiah 9:1). These texts suggest that full immersion in the Nephite
language was unique enough to deserve written recognition, which in turn
indicates an apparent need to receive formal training. The curious phrase ‘in
all the language’ suggests that the Nephite language may have been threatened
by another robust language tradition, thus necessitating complete linguistic
immersion.”[2]
Benjamin also taught them about the plates of brass “And I,
Nephi, had also brought the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass”
(2 Nephi 5:12).
Without the plates, the Nephites would have lost the records
and commandments.
“And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these
records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers;
“And also that we may preserve unto them the words which
have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been
delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even
down unto this present time” (1 Nephi 3:19-20).
“And at the time that Mosiah discovered [the Mulekites],
they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and
serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their
language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and
they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah,
could understand them” (Omni 1:17).
They would have become ignorant not knowing the mysteries of
God. “And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be
preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and
convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of
their God unto the salvation of their souls” (Alma 37:8).
“Why
did righteous fathers in the Book of Mormon go to so much trouble to teach
their sons the word of God? King Benjamin said it was to fulfill the
commandments of God. He further stated that were it not for their having
the brass plates which contained the commandments, they would have ‘suffered in
ignorance.’ Could the lack of teaching the
scriptures in our homes be a source of our suffering in ignorance today? As the
brass plates blessed Lehi and his descendants, so our scriptures should bless
us.”[3]
There is no way Lehi could have remembered all things to
teach his children. Having access to the plates made teaching his children
possible.
Benjamin mentions Lehi had been taught the language of the Egyptians.
“Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the
learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 1:2).
“And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these
records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers” (1 Nephi
3:19).
“And now, behold, we have written this record according to
our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed
Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of
speech.
“And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should
have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we
could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our
record” (Mormon 9:32-33).
“Mosiah, like the sons of prophets and kings before him, had
‘been taught in the language of the Egyptians’ (Mosiah 1:4). Such an education
was not a mere academic exercise. The plates of brass and Nephi's plates were
written in this language. Through study of the scriptures recorded thereon,
Benjamin sought to help his sons come to value the scriptures and become ‘men
of understanding; and that they might know concerning the prophecies’ (Mosiah
1:2), as well as the commandments and the mysteries of God (cf. Mosiah 1:3). It
is not surprising that the descendants of Joseph, especially the members of a
ruling family within that tribe, continued to use this language for their own
records and scriptures.”[4]
Because of the records, the Nephites have God’s word. “Yea,
I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain,
which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so
many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers;
yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they
brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus
Christ their Redeemer” (Alma 37:9).
The records have been kept and preserved so we might read
and understand His mysteries. “And we had obtained the records which the Lord
had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea,
even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments
of the Lord unto our children” (1 Nephi 5:21).
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in
thine heart:
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by
the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
“And thou shalt bind them for a sign[5]
upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes” (Deuteronomy
6:6-8).
“And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which
our father saw, that led to the tree?
“And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso
would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would
never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the
adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction” (1 Nephi
15:23-24).
“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest
thou unto them in parables?
“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given”
(Matthew 13:10-11).
“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he
will shew them his covenant” (Psalm 25:14).
They also have God’s commandments.
“I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me
in the wilderness, saying that: Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my
commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise.
“Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments
of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law.
“And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates
of brass” (1 Nephi 4:14-16).
King Benjamin used the Lamanites as an example of what
happens without the scriptures. They know nothing about God’s commandments.
They rely on the incorrect traditions of their fathers.
“They were a wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty
people, believing in the tradition of their fathers, which is this—Believing
that they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem because of the iniquities of
their fathers, and that they were wronged in the wilderness by their brethren,
and they were also wronged while crossing the sea;
“And again, that they were wronged while in the land of
their first inheritance, after they had crossed the sea, and all this because
that Nephi was more faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord—therefore
he was favored of the Lord, for the Lord heard his prayers and answered them,
and he took the lead of their journey in the wilderness.
“And his brethren were wroth with him because they
understood not the dealings of the Lord; they were also wroth with him upon the
waters because they hardened their hearts against the Lord.
“And again, they were wroth with him when they had arrived
in the promised land, because they said that he had taken the ruling of the
people out of their hands; and they sought to kill him.
“And again, they were wroth with him because he departed
into the wilderness as the Lord had commanded him, and took the records which
were engraven on the plates of brass, for they said that he robbed them.
“And thus they have taught their children that they should
hate them, and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and
plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an
eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi” (Mosiah 10:12-17).
“At what age do we begin teaching our sons these gospel
truths? Alma taught his son Helaman while he was in his youth. Our youth ought
not to wait until the mission field to get a grasp of the scriptures and a
closeness to the Lord. Lehi said that his son Jacob beheld the glory of the
Lord in his youth…
“How often should fathers teach these truths to their sons?
King Benjamin speaks of having the commandments ‘always before our eyes’…
“[T]he Book of Mormon, which is the most correct book on
earth, demonstrates that the major responsibility for teaching our sons the
great plan of the Eternal Father—the Fall, rebirth, Atonement, Resurrection,
Judgment, eternal life—rests with fathers. It should be done individually as
well as in the family. It should be preached and discussed so our children will
know the commandments. It should be done from their youth up—and often.”[6]
[1] Becoming
Sons and Daughters at God’s Right Hand: King Benjamin’s Rhetorical Wordplay on
His Own Name, Matthew L. Bowen, Journal
of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 21/2 (2012): 10.
[2] “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): 122.
[4] Mosiah: The Complex Symbolism and Symbolic Complex of
Kingship in the Book of Mormon, Gordon C. Thomasson, Journal
of Book of Mormon Studies 2/1 (1993): 33.
[5] IE phylacteries: passages of the law written on
scrolls of parchment enclosed in tiny boxes, bound on the left arm and on the
forehead, as an ordinance of remembrance of the Mosaic law, and worn by Jews
during the morning prayers.
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