Saturday, November 9, 2019

Mosiah 19:25-29


25 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an oath unto them, that his people should not slay them.
26 And also Limhi, being the son of the king, having the kingdom conferred upon him aby the people, made oath unto the king of the Lamanites that his people should pay tribute unto him, even one half of all they possessed.
27 And it came to pass that Limhi began to establish the kingdom and to establish peace among his people.
28 And the king of the Lamanites set guards round about the land, that he might keep the people of Limhi in the land, that they might not depart into the wilderness; and he did support his guards out of the tribute which he did receive from the Nephites.
29 And now king Limhi did have continual peace in his kingdom for the space of two years, that the Lamanites did not molest them nor seek to destroy them.
Mosiah 19:25-29

The people of Limhi are under the rule of the Lamanites.  A treaty was made with the Lamanites.  On the Lamanites part, they agreed not to kill Limhi’s people.  Limhi’s people agreed to pay tribute to the king in the amount of one-half of all they owned.  A treaty was a very serious matter.

“The making of the treaty is to be understood as a very serious and sacred matter. On the human side, it was the basis for an era of peace, even though the peace chiefly benefited the Lamanites (see Mosiah 19:25—27, 29). According to Old Testament law, the breaking of an agreement between two parties led to whatever consequences were spelled out in the ‘curses’ of the oaths—the classic example being the one between the Israelites, who were about to possess the promised land, and the Lord. As is plain from his response, the Lamanite king’s promise that ‘his people should not slay’ the people of Limhi (Mosiah 19:25) was reversed as one of the penalties for breaking the treaty.”[1]

“Noah dies and Limhi is made king. His generation will pay for the sins of Noah: they are in bondage to the Lamanites having to pay half their possessions in tribute (Mosiah 19:26). This is slavery pure and simple.”[2]

Living in peace with the Lamanites, Limhi began to establish his kingdom.  They were forced to deal with guards watching over them.  They were free, to a point.  The guards were there to prevent them from leaving the land.  The guards were supported with the tribute the Lamanite king received.

For two years, there was peace between Nephites and Lamanites.


[1] Marriage and Treaty in the Book of Mormon:The Case of the Abducted Lamanite Daughters, S. Kent Brown, Maxwell Institute.
[2] Historical Narrative, Literary Narrative—Expelling Poetics from the Republic of History, Alan Goff, Maxwell Institute.

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