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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