|
|
|
|
CHAPTER 10One king succeeds another—Some of the kings are righteous; others are wicked—When righteousness prevails, the people are blessed and prospered by the Lord. |
||
|
1 AND it came to pass that Shez, who was a
descendant of Heth—for aHeth had perished by the
famine, and all his household save it were Shez— wherefore, Shez began to build up again a broken people. 2 And it came to pass that Shez did remember the destruction of his fathers, and he did build up a righteous kingdom; for he remembered what the Lord had done in bringing Jared and his brother aacross the deep; and he did walk in the ways of the Lord; and he begat sons and daughters. 3 And his eldest son, whose name was Shez, did arebel against him; nevertheless, Shez was smitten by the hand of a robber, because of his exceeding riches, which brought peace again unto his father.
|
1a
Ether 9:26 (25-29) 2a Ether 6:12 (1-12) 3a Mosiah 10:6
|
|
|
4 And it came to pass that his father did build up many cities
upon the face of the land, and the people began again to spread
over all the face of the land. And Shez did live to an
exceedingly old age; and he begat Riplakish. And he died, and
Riplakish reigned in his stead.
5 And it came to pass that Riplakish did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, for he did have many wives and aconcubines, and did lay that upon men's shoulders which was grievous to be borne; yea, he did btax them with heavy taxes; and with the taxes he did build many spacious buildings. 6 And he did erect him an exceedingly beautiful throne; and he did build many prisons, and whoso would not be subject unto taxes he did acast into prison; and whoso was not able to pay taxes he did cast into prison; and he did cause that they should labor continually for their support; and whoso refused to labor he did cause to be put to death.
|
5a
Esth. 2:14;
Jacob 3:5;
Mosiah 11:2-14 b Gen. 47:24 6a TG Oppression; TG Tyranny
|
|
|
7 Wherefore he did obtain all his fine work, yea, even his fine
agold he did cause to be refined in prison, and all manner
of fine bworkmanship he did cause to be wrought in prison.
And it came to pass that he did afflict the people with his whoredoms and
abominations.
8 And when he had reigned for the space of forty and two years the people did rise up in rebellion against him; and there began to be war again in the land, insomuch that Riplakish was killed, and his descendants were driven out of the land.
|
7a
Esth. 1:4 b TG Art
|
|
|
9 And it came to pass after the space of many years, Morianton,
(he being a descendant of Riplakish) gathered together an army of
outcasts, and went forth and gave battle unto the people; and he
gained power over many cities; and the war became exceedingly
sore, and did last for the space of many years; and he did gain
power over all the land, and did establish himself king over all
the land.
10 And after that he had established himself king he did ease the burden of the people, by which he did gain favor in the eyes of the people, and they did anoint him to be their king. 11 And he did do justice unto the people, but not unto himself because of his many awhoredoms; wherefore he was cut off from the presence of the Lord.
|
11a
TG
Whoredom
|
|
|
12 And it came to pass that Morianton built up many cities, and the
people became exceedingly rich under his reign, both in buildings, and in
agold and silver, and in raising grain, and in flocks, and
herds, and such things which had been restored unto them.
13 And Morianton did live to an exceedingly great age, and then he begat Kim; and Kim did reign in the stead of his father; and he did reign eight years, and his father died. And it came to pass that Kim did not areign in righteousness, wherefore he was not favored of the Lord. 14 And his brother did rise up in rebellion against him, by which he did bring him into acaptivity; and he did remain in captivity all his days; and he begat sons and daughters in captivity, and in his old age he begat Levi; and he died.
|
12a
Ether 9:17-18 13a 1 Ne. 17:35 (34-35) 14a Ether 7:7; Ether 8:4 (3-4); Ether 10:30-31
|
|
|
15 And it came to pass that Levi did serve in captivity after
the death of his father, for the space of forty and two years.
And he did make war against the king of the land, by which he did
obtain unto himself the kingdom.
16 And after he had obtained unto himself the kingdom he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord; and the people did prosper in the land; and he did live to a good aold age, and begat sons and daughters; and he also begat Corom, whom he anointed king in his stead.
|
16a
TG
Old Age
|
|
|
17 And it came to pass that Corom did that which was good in the
sight of the Lord all his days; and he begat many sons and
daughters; and after he had seen many days he did pass away, even
like unto the rest of the earth; and Kish reigned in his stead.
18 And it came to pass that Kish passed away also, and Lib reigned in his stead.
|
||
The Height of Jaredite Civilization |
||
|
19 And it came to pass that Lib also did that which was good in the
sight of the Lord. And in the days of Lib the apoisonous
serpents were destroyed. Wherefore they did go into the land southward, to
hunt food for the people of the land, for the land was covered with animals
of the forest. And Lib also himself became a great bhunter.
20 And they built a great city by the anarrow neck of landa, by the place where the sea divides the landb. 21 And they did preserve the land asouthward for a wilderness, to get gamea. And the whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitantsb.
|
20a they built a great city by the narrow
neck of land This would be the great city of Jaredite trade and
commerce linking the land of natural resource to the civilized and inhabited
of the north. One might consider its location as being upon that same eastern
coastline upon which the later city of Desolation of the Nephites was built.
20b where the sea divides the land Now what the exact nature of the 'narrow neck' was in these days of the Jaredites is not known, but the phrase 'where the sea divides the land' may lead one to consider that the passage was more narrow and lower in elevation to the point that the sea would upon occassion inundate the land, thus actually 'dividing the land'. There is some evidence to this end in that the shell sea creatures are the same upon the coasts of either side of the narrow neck today which would lead one to presume that the neck was not always above sea level, thus allowing such passage between the oceans of such identical sea creatures. This might even be considered in why Jacob states that he Nephites where upon an isle of the sea if the south was so cut off from the north at times and of coarse the great Amazon sea did so limit the actual size of the land southward. 21a they did preserve the land southward for a wilderness, to get game The entire concept of the southern wilderness was not merely to preserve the land but to promote the planned use of it for the stated purpose of it was 'to get game'. This would indicated that the Jaredites did venture into the land southward on extended ventures, hunting and obtaining game which they would return with to the north and to that great city of commerce by the narrow neck of land. 21b the whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitants Part of the reasoning of preserving the land southward of the narrow neck was because the 'whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitants'. This would be the height and greatest extent of the Jaredite civilization, that great society which the Lord said of it that no nation would be greater than (Ether 1:43). Now the nation of the United States is pretty great. But if one considers that it is not greater than the Jaredite nation, just how great was the Jaredite nation? Certainly one must think that it would be greater than a limited Mesoamerican society if it were to be greater that the great nations of the world today. And one must seriously consider that indeed the whole face of North America was at this time inhabited by this great Jaredite nation of Kib. |
19a
Ether 9:31 b Gen. 25:27; Ether 2:1 20a Alma 63:5 21a Morm. 3:5; Ether 9:31-32
|
|
22 And they were exceedingly aindustrious, and they
did buy and sell and btraffic one with another, that they
might get gain.
23 And they did awork in all manner of bore, and they did make gold, and silver, and ciron, and dbrass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth; wherefore they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get orea, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did ework all manner of fine work. 24 And they did have asilks, and fine-twined blinen; and they did work all manner of ccloth, that they might clothe themselves from their nakedness.
|
23a they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore This seems to speak of large open pit mines where the earth and slag heaps are piled high as the ore is dug and processed from the ground. |
22a
TG
Industry b Gen. 34:10-21; Mosiah 24:7; 4 Ne. 1:46 23a TG Skill b Hel. 6:9-11; Ether 9:17 c 2 Ne. 5:15; Moses 5:46 d Gen. 4:22; Mosiah 8:10 e TG Art 24a Ether 9:17 b Ex. 25:4-5; 1 Ne. 13:7-8 c TG Clothing
|
|
25 And they did make all manner of tools to till the earth, both
to plow and to sow, to reap and to hoe, and also to thrash.
26 And they did make all manner of tools with which they did work their beasts. 27 And they did make all manner of aweapons of war. And they did work all manner of work of exceedingly curious workmanship.
|
27a
Ether 15:15
|
|
|
28 And never could be a people more blessed than were they, and
more prospered by the hand of the Lord. And they were in a land
that was choice above all lands, for the Lord had spoken it.
29 And it came to pass that Lib did live many years, and begat sons and daughters; and he also begat Hearthom.
|
||
|
30 And it came to pass that Hearthom reigned in the stead of his
father. And when Hearthom had reigned twenty and four years, behold, the
kingdom was taken away from him. And he served many years in
acaptivity, yea, even all the remainder of his days.
31 And he begat Heth, and Heth lived in captivity all his days. And Heth begat Aaron, and Aaron dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Amnigaddah, and Amnigaddah also dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Coriantum, and Coriantum dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Com.
|
30a
Ether 10:14;
Ether 11:9
|
|
|
32 And it came to pass that Com drew away the half of the
kingdom. And he reigned over the half of the kingdom forty and
two years; and he went to battle against the king, Amgid, and
they fought for the space of many years, during which time Com
gained power over Amgid, and obtained power over the remainder of
the kingdom.
33 And in the days of Com there began to be robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered aoaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom. 34 Now Com did fight against them much; nevertheless, he did not prevail against them.
|
33a
TG
Secret Combinations
|
|
| This BM Book | Previous BM Chapter | Next BM Chapter | Commentary Page | Home Page |