11 Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the
Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own
strength. Yet they were a strong people,
as to the strength of men.
12 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;
13 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.
14 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.
15 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.
16 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.
17 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.
18 For this very cause has king Laman, by his cunning,
and lying craftiness, and his fair promises, deceived me, that I have brought
this my people up into this land, that they may destroy them; yea, and we have
suffered these many years in the land.
19 And now I,
Zeniff, after having told all these things unto my people concerning the
Lamanites, I did stimulate them to go to battle with their might, putting their
trust in the Lord; therefore, we did contend with them, face to face.
20 And it came to pass that we did drive them again
out of our land; and we slew them with a great slaughter, even so many that we
did not number them.
21 And it came to pass that we returned again to our
own land, and my people again began to tend their flocks, and to till their
ground.
22 And now I, being old, *did confer the
kingdom upon one of my sons; therefore, I say no more. And may the Lord bless my people. Amen.
Mosiah 10:11-22
Why were the Lamanites such a
blood-thirsty people? Zeniff tells us it
was because of the tradition of their fathers.
In fact, Zeniff gives us an excellent record of the Lamanite
grievances. Nephi touched on some of
their grievances.
“BEHOLD, it came to pass that
I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my
brethren.
“But behold, their anger did increase
against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.
“Yea, they did murmur against
me, saying: Our younger brother thinks to rule over us; and we have had much
trial because of him; wherefore, now let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted
more because of his words. For behold,
we will not have him to be our ruler; for it belongs unto us, who are the elder
brethren, to rule over this people” (2 Nephi 5:1-3).
A list of their grievances
include:
They were wronged in the New
World by Nephi. “[H]e was favored of the
Lord … he took the lead of their journey in the wilderness.” As the eldest, Laman felt he should have
taken the lead.
“Zeniff was one of the first
to defend the tradition of Nephi’s rule. He explained that the younger brother
took the lead because he was righteous and was called of God … Zeniff further
claimed that Laman and Lemuel had hardened their hearts while on the sea, and
that Nephi ‘departed into the wilderness as the Lord had commanded him, and
took the . . . plates of brass’ (Mosiah 10:13-16). This version of the Nephite
political tradition seems to have been standardized early in their history.”
Because Laman and Lemuel
hardened their hearts, they were angry and didn’t understand the Lord’s
dealings with Nephi. This was such a
major problem, Lehi addressed it in his final blessing given to Laman and
Lemuel.
“Rebel no more against your
brother, whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments
from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the
hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not
for him, we must have perished with hunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye
sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of
you.
“And I exceedingly fear and
tremble because of you, lest he shall suffer again; for behold, ye have accused
him that he sought power and authority over you; but I know that he hath not
sought for power nor authority over you, but he hath sought the glory of God,
and your own eternal welfare.
“And ye have murmured because
he hath been plain unto you. Ye say that
he hath used sharpness; ye say that he hath been angry with you; but behold,
his sharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in
him; and that which ye call anger was the truth, according to that which is in
God, which he could not restrain, manifesting boldly concerning your
iniquities.
“And it must needs be that
the power of God must be with him, even unto his commanding you that ye must
obey. But behold, it was not he, but it
was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance
that he could not shut it” (2 Nephi 1:24-27).
Noel Reynolds further
explains, “The Book of Mormon describes the Lamanites as constantly seeking to
dominate the Nephites … Hundreds of years later, Zeniff reported that the
Lamanites were still teaching their children to hate Nephi’s offspring, to
murder and rob them, and even to ‘have an eternal hatred’ toward them. From
what he had learned growing up in the Nephite kingdom, Zeniff (a descendant of
Mulek) said that all this hatred was because Laman and Lemuel ‘understood not
the dealings of the Lord’ and had ‘hardened their hearts against the Lord’
(Mosiah 10:14-17). No doubt the older brothers had ground into their families
these anti-Nephi teachings. By the second generation, the teachings had
resulted in the Lamanites’ deadly intention to destroy not only the Nephites,
but also their records and traditions (Enos 1:14).”
The fact Nephi became the
ruler over Lehi’s party after Lehi’s death was a very sore spot with the Lamanites.
Nephi had robbed Laman and
Lemuel when he took the brass plates with him.
They believed it was theirs by right of Laman being the eldest son.
“Nephite kingship seems to
have been connected with and even symbolized or legitimized by possession of
certain material objects. Thus, Nephi took the brass plates with him when
he abandoned the land of Nephi, perhaps in part as a token of his legitimacy. That
the Lamanites shared his perception of the importance of the plates is shown in
their oft-repeated claim that, by taking them, he had ‘robbed them,’ just as ‘they
said that he had taken the ruling of the people out of their hands’ (Mosiah
10:15–16; cf. 2 Nephi 5:3; Alma 20:10, 13). When Benjamin transferred the
kingdom to his son Mosiah, he also gave to Mosiah the brass plates, along with
the plates of Nephi, the sword of Laban, and the Liahona (Mosiah 1:15–16).”
To get their revenge,
Lamanite tradition required the children be taught to hate the Nephites, to
murder, rob, and plunder whenever possible.
Their ultimate goal was the total destruction of the children of Nephi.
This explains king Laman’s
cunning when he agreed to give Zeniff and his people the land of
Lehi-Nephi. He wanted to eventually
destroy the Nephites.
Zeniff led them, once again,
in battle against the Lamanites. They
went forth putting their trust in the Lord.
The Nephites were again victorious; however, the slaughter was so great
the dead were not counted.
Zeniff was getting old and
the time came to confer the kingdom on one of his sons. His choice was Noah. As we will see this was not a good choice;
however, Daniel Peterson does remind us we know nothing about the alternatives.
