20 And it came to pass
in the days of Mosiah, there was a large stone brought unto him with engravings
on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and power of God.
21 And they gave an
account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people
of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.
22 It also spake a few
words concerning his fathers. And his
first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language
of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his
judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.
23 Behold, I, Amaleki,
was born in the days of Mosiah; and I have lived to see his death; and
Benjamin, his son, reigneth in his stead.
24 And behold, I have
seen, in the days of king Benjamin, a serious war and much bloodshed between
the Nephites and the Lamanites. But
behold, the Nephites did obtain much advantage over them; yea, insomuch that
king Benjamin did drive them out of the land of Zarahemla.
25 And it came to pass that I began to be old;
and, having no seed, and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man before the
Lord, wherefore, I shall deliver up these plates unto him, exhorting all men to
come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying, and in
revelations, and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with
tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are
good; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord; and that
which is evil cometh from the devil.
26 And now, my beloved
brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of
Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole
souls as an coffering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying,
and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.
27 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.
28 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.
29 And it came to pass
that they also took others to a considerable number, and took their journey
again into the wilderness.
30 And I, Amaleki, had
a brother, who also went with them; and I have not since known concerning
them. And I am about to lie down in my
grave; and these plates are full. And I make
an end of my speaking.
Omni 1:20-30
The Mulekites and Nephites have united under King Mosiah1. A stone with writing was brought to the
King. He was able to “interpret the
engravings by the gift and power of God.”
King Mosiah2 was also able to interpret records. “And now he translated them by the means of
those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow” (Mosiah
28:13).
There was an account of Coriantumr, a Jaredite king (see
Ether 12:1), who was the last known surviving Jaredite. The
engravings were an account of the Jaredites and their wars. Coriantumr was found by the people of
Zarahemla and lived nine months (“nine moons”).
“Amaleki’s use of the term moons in Omni
1:21 suggests that even four centuries after the time of Lehi, his
descendants were still familiar with a simple lunar calendar based on direct
observation of the phases of the moon.”[1]
“Since Coriantumr had been very badly wounded and with not a
soul to help him, he could not have gotten very far; the fact that he lingered
only nine months after his rescue implies as much, though it does not
necessarily prove it. But the evidence strongly suggests that the Mulekites ‘discovered’
Coriantumr shortly after the last Jaredite battle, and hence that they had been
on the continent for quite a while, though some years fewer than the Nephites.”[2]
The records told Mosiah1 the ancestors of
Coriantumr came from the Old World around the time of the Tower of Babel. “[T]he severity of the Lord fell upon them
according to his judgments, which are just” (Omni 1:2).
Valentine Arts speculates that Coriantumr might not have
been the only Jaredite to visit the people of Zarahemla.
“[I]t is reasonable that Ether passed on the sealed
record. How so? Ether was a contemporary
of Coriantumr, who lived among the people of Zarahemla for ‘nine moons’ and
thus also lived in the era of the Nephites (Omni 1:21). It is therefore
possible that in his old age Ether visited Mosiah1, either still in
the land of Nephi or in Zarahemla.”[3]
Amaleki gives us a little of his history. He was born during the reign of King Mosiah1
and saw his son, Benjamin become king when Mosiah1 died.
During King Benjamin’s reign, there was a major war. Many died.
In the end, the Nephites defeated the Lamanites under the leadership of
King Benjamin. The Lamanites were driven
out of the land.
“[N]o further Lamanite harassment of the fleeing Nephites is
mentioned in the record during the reign of Mosiah1, but shortly
after Benjamin became king, a significant Lamanite invasion occurred (see Words
of Mormon 1:13; Omni 1:24) … Several reasons make it probable that the
attack against Benjamin was related to the major Lamanite offensive being waged
at that same time in the south against the Nephite colonists in the land of
Nephi (see Mosiah 10:6–16) … [T]he Lamanites in the south were still angry because
Nephi had ‘departed into the wilderness’ four centuries earlier and had taken
with him the plates of brass (Mosiah 10:16). Since the plates of brass were now
in Zarahemla, it would have been logical for the Lamanites to have included
that city as one of the military targets in their campaign.”[4]
“King Benjamin’s military generalship, as well as his
personal combat skills on the battlefield, gave the Nephites serious advantage
over the Lamanites, insomuch that King Benjamin drove the Lamanites out of the
land of Zarahemla (Omni 1:24).”[5]
Amaleki had no son to whom he could pass plates. He decided to pass the small plates to King
Benjamin.
He urges “all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel.” He counsels all men to believe in all things
good as they come from the Lord. The
Lord told the brother of Jared, “And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good
is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good;
he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that
will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light,
and the life, and the truth of the world” (Ether 4:12).
In an epistle to his son, Moroni, Mormon wrote:
“For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge,
that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may
know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man,
that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge;
for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in
Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know
with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
“But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe
not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect
knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he
persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do
they who subject themselves unto him” (Moroni 7:15-17).
John Welch writes briefly about King Benjamin.
“Benjamin’s lineage and the date of his birth are not known.
He was the son of a Nephite king, Mosiah1, and while one may assume
that this Mosiah1 was a descendant of Nephi, there is no indication
that Nephite kingship necessarily passed down from father to son among Nephi’s
descendants. Jacob 1:11 prescribes that each Nephite king should be called by a
coronation name of “Nephi,” but begins with ‘whoso should reign
. . . ,’ which seems to say that lineage was not a determining factor
in the selection of these rulers. Mosiah1 and Benjamin could,
therefore, have been Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, or Zoramites, but one
suspects they were from the lineage of Nephi, especially since Amaleki, a
descendant of Jacob, had no posterity himself to whom he could give the small
plates before he died (see Omni 1:25).”[6]
For the first time since Nephi, the custody of the small
plates were passed on to someone who was not a descant of Jacob.
Amaleki gives a final charge. Come unto Christ. Partake of His salvation. Come before Christ offering of our whole
soul; continue to fast pray. Finally,
he calls upon us to endure to the end. “[A]nd
as the Lord liveth ye will be saved” (Omni 1:26).
Amaleki writes his final words, telling us about a group who
left Zarahemla to return the land of Nephi, the land of their inheritance. As they travelled, contention broke out. Their leader was “a stiffnecked man.” Fighting broke out and all but 50 survived
and returned to Zarahemla.
Another group the left with the same purpose. Amaleki had a brother in the group. Towards the end of Amaleki’s life, he tells
us nothing was heard from them.
This finishes the small plates of Nephi. From this point on,
we read from the large plates.
[1] The
Jewish/Nephite Lunar Calendar, Randall P. Spackman, Maxwell Institute
[3]A
Third Jaredite Record: The Sealed Portion of the Gold Plates, Valentin Arts,
Maxwell Institute
[4] Benjamin,
the Man: His Place in Nephite History, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute
[5] Ancient
Aspects of Nephite Kingship in the Book of Mormon, Todd R. Kerr, Maxwell
Institute
[6] Benjamin,
the Man: His Place in Nephite History, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute
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