Monday, August 12, 2019

Mosiah 9:1-13


The Record of Zeniff—
An account of his people, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time that they were delivered out of the hands of the Lamanites.
Comprising chapters 9 to 22 inclusive.

Chapter 9

Zeniff leads a group from Zarahemla to possess the land of Lehi-Nephi—The Lamanite king permits them to inherit the land—There is war between the Lamanites and Zeniff’s people. About 200–187 B.C.

1 I, ZENIFF, having been taught in all the language of the Nephites, and having had a knowledge of the land of Nephi, or of the land of our fathers’ first inheritance, *and having been sent as a spy among the Lamanites that I might spy out their forces, that our army might come upon them and destroy them—but when I saw that which was good among them I was desirous that they should not be destroyed.
2 Therefore, I contended with my brethren in the wilderness, for I would that our ruler should make a treaty with them; but he being an austere and a blood-thirsty man commanded that I should be slain; but I was rescued by the shedding of much blood; for father fought against father, and brother against brother, until the greater number of our army was destroyed in the wilderness; and we returned, those of us that were spared, to the land of Zarahemla, to relate that tale to their wives and their children.
3 And yet, I being over–zealous to inherit the land of our fathers, collected as many as were desirous to go up to possess the land, and started again on our journey into the wilderness to go up to the land; but we were smitten with famine and sore afflictions; for we were slow to remember the Lord our God.
4 Nevertheless, after many days’ wandering in the wilderness we pitched our tents in the place where our brethren were slain, which was near to the land of our fathers.
5 And it came to pass that I went again with four of my men into the city, in unto the king, that I might know of the disposition of the king, and that I might know if I might go in with my people and possess the land in peace.
6 And I went in unto the king, and he covenanted with me that I might possess the land of Lehi-Nephi, and the land of Shilom.
7 And he also commanded that his people should depart out of the land, and I and my people went into the land that we might possess it.
8 And we began to build buildings, and to repair the walls of the city, yea, even the walls of the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom.
9 And we began to till the ground, yea, even with all manner of seeds, with seeds of corn, and of wheat, and of barley, and with neas, and with sheum, and with seeds of all manner of fruits; and we did begin to multiply and prosper in the land.
10 Now it was the cunning and the craftiness of king Laman, to bring my people into bondage, that he yielded up the land that we might possess it.
11 Therefore it came to pass, that after we had dwelt in the land for the space of twelve years that king Laman began to grow uneasy, lest by any means my people should wax strong in the land, and that they could not overpower them and bring them into bondage.
12 Now they were a lazy and an idolatrous people; therefore they were desirous to bring us into bondage, that they might glut themselves with the labors of our hands; yea, that they might feast themselves upon the flocks of our fields.
13 Therefore it came to pass that king Laman began to stir up his people that they should contend with my people; therefore there began to be wars and contentions in the land.
Mosiah 1:1-13

We take a break in the Book of Mormon narrative at this point in Mormon’s records. Benjamin is the king, inheriting the kingdom from his father, Mosiah1.  We go back about one hundred years to an incident touched upon by Amaleki in the book of Omni.

“And now I would speak somewhat concerning a certain number who went up into the wilderness to return to the land of Nephi; for there was a large number who were desirous to possess the land of their inheritance.
“Wherefore, they went up into the wilderness.  And their leader being a strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man, wherefore he caused a contention among them; and they were all slain, save fifty, in the wilderness, and they returned again to the land of Zarahemla.
“And it came to pass that they also took others to a considerable number, and took their journey again into the wilderness.
“And I, Amaleki, had a brother, who also went with them; and I have not since known concerning them” (Omni 1:27-30).

Zeniff was a part of the group that went to claim the land of Nephi which had been lost to the Lamanites.  He was a part of the first group.  He went out and served as a spy for his party.  He was to find weaknesses that could be exploited and used to lead to their defeat. 

Instead of finding a vicious enemy, Zeniff found a people in which he found good.  He was so impressed by the Lamanites, he did not want to see them destroyed.

We get a somewhat unusual statement by Zeniff.  Zeniff tells us he was taught the language of the Nephites.  Why would he say this?  It’s obvious a Nephite would know the language of the Nephites.

“Zeniff stated that he had been taught ‘in all the language of the Nephites’ (Mosiah 9:1). Why would he have made that statement if there were no alternatives? Who among us, raised in the United States, would say in opening our autobiography, ‘I was taught English when I was young.’ Zeniff and his people lived for a time in close contact with the Lamanites, thus perhaps raising his perspective on a different language.”[1]

Zeniff returned with his report.  He “contended with my brethren in the wilderness.”  The group’s leader (Zeniff calls him “our ruler”) was described as a “stiffnecked man” (Omni 1:28) and as a “blood-thirsty man” by Zeniff.  He ordered Zeniff be killed.  Obviously the leader did not control the entire party.  There was a major conflict, with father against father and brother against brother.  All this accomplished was the killing of most of the party.  The survivors returned to Zarahemla, letting family members know what happened.

The failure of the first party did not discourage Zeniff.  In fact, he describes himself, in his own words, as “being over-zealous to inherit the land of our fathers.”  We will see that Zeniff was a poor choice to be the leader (and eventual king) of this group. 

“[W]e see that Zeniff is not a man of very good judgment. You notice that he has done foolish things. In Mosiah 9:2–3 he got into trouble with the leader of the crew. He wanted to make peace, but he wasn’t too tactful about it. He was partly responsible for the breaking up of that group. Then soon after he insisted on leading another expedition which was poorly equipped, and they suffered from hunger and thirst. They had a terrible time because they weren’t properly prepared.?[2]

The new party went back into the wilderness, looking for the land of Nephi.  But, Zeniff tells us, they “were slow to remember the Lord our God.”  This lead to the suffering from a famine and other afflictions.  “This is not a case of getting lost, for a large number of survivors from the earlier expedition certainly knew the way; this party knew exactly where they were going—it was the immense length of the journey that made it so time-consuming and exhausting.”[3]

They finally arrived at the location of the rebellion, near the land of Nephi.

A group of five went into the Lamanite king and asked to be allowed to “possess the land in peace.”  “Zeniff and his people willingly recognized the Lamanite king of the land (see Mosiah 9:5) and then proceeded to set up their own kingdom nearby.[4]

The king granted Zeniff’s request and covenanted with him that he and his people would not only possess the land of Lehi-Nephi, but the land of Shilom as well.  There were Lamanites living in those lands.  The king ordered his people to leave the land and allow Zeniff and his people to live in the land.

Zeniff has negotiated with the Lamanite king and won back the land of Nephi.  The residents were moved out of the land and Zeniff’s party moved in.  The first then they did was to begin to build buildings and repair the walls protecting the cities. 

Following the example of Lehi’s party, Zeniff brought a variety of seeds (see 1 Nephi 8:1).  They planted corn, wheat, and barley.

“Mosiah 9:9 in the Book of Mormon lists barley among several crops that were cultivated by the Nephites, and Alma 11:7 singles out barley as the primary grain into which silver and gold were converted in the Nephite system of weights and measures. Yet scientists of Joseph Smith’s day did not know of any examples of domesticated barley in the pre-Columbian Americas. It was not until the 1980s that the first direct evidence of cultivated barley in the ancient New World was discovered.”[5] 

Zeniff also mentions seeds of sheum.

“Broadening the discussion from a focus on measures for grains, we come to ‘sheum,’ a Nephite word for a kind of grain. As one might expect, the term is at home in the ancient Near East. It is the Old Assyrian name for wheat, which is she’um or e’um. We find this very term listed among other cereal names, including corn (maize), wheat, barley, and neas (see Mosiah 9:9).”[6]

Remember how willing the Lamanite king, King Laman, was to give Zeniff the land?  He even went so far as to forcibly remove his people who lived in the land.  Zeniff should have been more skeptical of Laman’s willingness to grant his wishes.  About twelve years later, Laman’s true intent becomes clear.

King Laman became “uneasy” about the people of Zeniff.  What if they became strong enough, the Lamanites couldn’t defeat them and bring them into bondage.

If you recall, the first party that searched for the Land of Nephi intended to destroy the Nephites.  Limhi spied on them and found they were a good people (see Mosiah 9:1).  It was over the issue of destroying the Lamanites that the first party failed.  We now see his opinion of the Lamanites has changed.[7]

Now Zeniff sees them as lazy and idolatrous.  Why did they want to bring Zeniff’s people into bondage?  They didn’t want to do the work themselves.  They wanted to take advantage of the work of the Nephites.  They wanted them to do the work while they lived off their labor.  A description of the Lamanite like this one has been called racist by critics of the Book of Mormon.  “Mosiah 9:12 describes the Lamanites as ‘a lazy and an idolatrous people,’ but it does not associate these traits with their skin color.”[8]

King Laman began to stir up his people.  This led to them desiring war with the Nephites.  “[T]here began to be wars and contentions in the land.”  (This might well be the wars mentioned by Amaleki in Omni 1:24, writing about King Benjamin leading his people during a Lamanite war.)



[1] Who Are the Children of Lehi? D. Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent D. Stephens, Maxwell Institute.
[2] Lecture 33: Mosiah 10-11, Maxwell Institute.
[3] The Nature of Book of Mormon Society, Maxwell Institute.
[4] Kingship. Coronation, and Covenant in Mosiah 1–6, Stephen D. Ricks, Maxwell Institute.
[5] Complexity, Consistency, Ignorance, and Probabilities, Melvin J. Thorne, Maxwell Institute.
[6] Weighing and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute.
[7] Alma’s Enemies: The Case of the Lamanites, Amlicites, and Mysterious Amalekites, J. Christopher Conkling, Maxwell Institute.
[8] The Charge of “Racism” in the Book of Mormon, John A. Tvedtnes, Maxwell Institute.

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