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CHAPTER 7
Orihah reigns in righteousness— |
The first Jaredite king Orihah reigns in righteousness—During the reign of he second king Kib, usurpation leads to the two rival kingdoms of Moron and Nehor and strife between the two rival kingdoms of Shule and Cohor which are established—Shule units the kingdoms and protects the prophets who condemn the wickedness and idolatry of the people who then repent are spared destruction and peace and prosperity are restored in the land. | |
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1 AND it came to pass that Orihah did
execute judgment upon the land in righteousness all his days, whose
days were exceedingly manya.
2 And he begat sons and daughters; yea, he begat thirty and one, among whom were twenty and three sons. 3 And it came to pass that he also begat aKib in his bold age. And it came to pass that Kib reigned in his stead; and Kib begat Corihor.
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1a whose days were exceedingly many Now we do not suppose that they days of Orihah was like that of the ancients, but it does appear that according to such as his contemporaries and those of the days of those who lived since Noah, that his days were many, perhaps 100 years of even more. And he did have 31 children, which in itself takes many years. And it was his youngest son Kib who eventually was placed to be the next king. |
3a
Ether 1:32 (31-32) b Gen. 18:12 (11-12); Ether 7:26; Ether 9:23
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4 And when Corihor was thirty and two years old he rebelled
against his father, and went over and dwelt in the land of
Nehora;
and he begat sons and daughters, and they became exceedingly
fair; wherefore Corihor drew away many people after him.
5 And when he had gathered together an army he came up unto the land of aMoron where the king dwelt, and took him captive, which bbrought to pass the saying of the brother of Jared that they would be brought into captivitya. 6 Now the aland of Moron, where the king dwelt, was near the land which is called Desolation by the Nephitesa.
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4a land of Nehor Now the
original land of the Jaredites was that of Moron, Moron being a land near to
the later land of Desolation of the Nephites. Whether the land of Nehor is
west or north of the land of Moron is not determined but presumed to be
north. It is mentioned here and in verse 9 and then never again in the
abridged Jaredite history of Moroni. We must presume a great number of
Jaredite lands and cities are never so mentioned by name in Moroni's record.
The only other thing known about Nehor is that it was was in a lower
elevation from or more likely in a valley apart from Moron, for the people
'come up' out of Nehor to Moron.
5a the saying of the brother of Jared that they would be brought into captivity The prophet Mahonri Moriancumer stated about appointing a king upon the land that 'Surely this thing leadeth into captivity' (Ether 6:23). Thus is the nature of kings, for they subject the people unto them and rule over them. But in this case it was actually waring factions which brought about the captivity. 6a the land of Moron, where the king dwelt, was near the land which is called Desolation by the Nephites It needs be considered that Moroni was the abridger of the record of Ether into the book of Ether. And though the land Moron was a much more ancient land of the Jaredites, Moroni in relating its location would but speak relative to sites and places of his own day. Thus, although one general concept at an earlier Nephite date than Moroni's day was that at that earlier time the Nephites did consider all of the land northward of the land Bountiful of the narrow neck, the land Desolation; it ought to be made clear here that by the time of Moroni the land Desolation was much more limited and confined in his day and time in such later Nephite consideration. This 'limiting' the land of Desolation to a more 'provincial' size rather than all of North America would have logically occured as the Nephites began to inhabit the land and set up new lands and cities after the names of those Nephites who from their reference point first inhabited them. Thus by the time of Mormon, the land Desolation was quite limited to being immediately north of the narrow neck rather than includeing all of North America. And thus the Desolation province/region about did contain a city of Desolation as well as perhaps also including the city of Teancum. And so we are to understand that from Moroni's perspective of the more limited size land of Desolation that that first Moron of the Jaredites was near to the yet north of that limited size Desolation otherewise it would have had to been considered as being a part of it under the broader definition of Desolation. And than that second Jaredite land of Nehor would have also been further north of the land of Desolation. |
5a
Ether 14:6 (6, 11) b Ether 6:23 6a Ether 6:12
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7 And it came to pass that Kib dwelt in acaptivity,
and his people under Corihor his son, until he became exceedingly old;
nevertheless Kib begat Shule in his old age, while he was yet in captivity.
8 And it came to pass that Shule was angry with his brother; and Shule waxed strong, and became mighty as to the strength of a man; and he was also mighty in judgment. 9 Wherefore, he came to the hill Ephraima, and he did molten out of the hill, and made swords out of asteel for those whom he had drawn away with him; and after he had armed them with swords he returned to the city Nehor and gave battle unto his brother Corihor, by which means he obtained the kingdom and restored it unto his father Kib.
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9a hill Ephraim The use of the name Ephraim as a name of a hill in the Jaredite lands at this early date of the Jaredite history gives rise to an interesting consideration. Whether by the 'concept' or by the actual same name, the Jaredites seem that they may have used the name Ephraim before Joseph so named his second born son Ephraim. Of course the meaning of the name is 'fruitful' often in respect to seed or production in multiplying life. Adam was given the command from God to multiply and fill the earth. Yet a more directly associated consideration is in terms of the 'promised seed'. Adam was blessed with the blessings of the covenant that his seed would be blessed in connection with the blessings and promises of that covenant, so was Noah and Abraham. Could it be that the name Ephraim has much more directly to deal with the covenant seed and the carrying forth of the blessings of the covenant than is generally considered. Is it that the name Ephraim was given to the second son of Joseph in respect to his being the 'promised seed of the covenant' by which the covenant of Abraham would be fulfilled. Could it be the the very name Ephraim in and of itself contained and held the fulness of that connotation, 'the fruitful seed of the covenant'? And could this early use of the name by the Jaredites be such an indication or hint of such, as Ephraim being a name used by them prior to Joseph using it in the Old World. And could it be one of the few preserved names out of the language of Adam so surviving because of its great significance? |
7a
Ether 8:4 (3-4);
Ether 10:34 9a 1 Ne. 16:18
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10 And now because of the thing which Shule had done, his father
bestowed upon him the kingdom; therefore he began to reign in the
stead of his father.
11 And it came to pass that he did execute judgment in righteousness; and he did spread his kingdom upon all the face of the land, for the people had become exceedingly numerous. 12 And it came to pass that Shule also begat many sons and daughters.
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13 And Corihor repented of the many evils which he had done;
wherefore Shule gave him power in his kingdom.
14 And it came to pass that Corihor had many sons and daughters. And among the sons of Corihor there was one whose name was Noah. 15 And it came to pass that Noah rebelled against Shule, the king, and also his father Corihor, and drew away Cohor his brother, and also all his brethren and many of the people.
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16 And he gave battle unto Shule the king, in which he did
obtain the land of their first
inheritancea; and he became a king
over that part of the land.
17 And it came to pass that he gave battle again unto Shule, the king; and he took Shule, the king, and carried him away captive into Moron. 18 And it came to pass as he was about to put him to death, the sons of Shule crept into the house of Noah by night and slew him, and broke down the door of the prison and brought out their father, and placed him upon his throne in his own kingdoma.
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16a the land of their first
inheritance Now this land of first inheritance, the land which
they did built up after their arival in the promised land was the that of
Moron. This is proved by the fact that this king Noah, when he had taken
Shule in battle, did bring him unto the land of Moron in captivity, that being
the land which he had previously taken and which was that land of first
inheritance.
16a brought out their father, and placed him upon his throne in his own kingdom Now the sons of Shule did not take the kingdom of Moron. Thier daring act was but to sneak in and carry away their father back to his own kingdom, which location of that kingdom it does not give. One might presume it to be Nehor or some other yet unnamed land most likely north of Moron, for they had spread over the face of the land and would have built up various lands and cities. But for certain, the kingdom of Shule in that 'land of Shule' at this time was not Moron, the land of first inheritance, which was retained by the son of Noah, Cohor. |
16a
Ether 6:12
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19 Wherefore, the son of Noah did build up his kingdom in his
stead; nevertheless they did not gain power any more over Shule
the king, and the people who were under the reign of Shule the
king did prosper exceedingly and wax great.
20 And the country was adivided; and there were two kingdoms, the kingdom of Shule, and the kingdom of Cohor, the son of Noah. 21 And Cohor, the son of Noah, caused that his people should give battle unto Shule, in which Shule did beat them and did slay Cohor.
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20a
2 Ne. 5:7 (1-14)
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22 And now Cohor had a son who was called Nimrod; and Nimrod
gave up the kingdom of Cohor unto Shule, and he did gain favor in
the eyes of Shule; wherefore Shule did bestow great favors upon
him, and he did do in the kingdom of Shule according to his
desires.
23 And also in the reign of Shule there came aprophets among the people, who were sent from the Lord, prophesying that the wickedness and bidolatry of the people was bringing a curse upon the land, and they should be destroyed if they did not repent.
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23a
Ether 9:28;
Ether 11:1, 12, 20 b TG Idolatry
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24 And it came to pass that the people did arevile
against the prophets, and did mock them. And it came to pass that king Shule
did execute judgment against all those who did revile against the prophets.
25 And he did execute a law throughout all the land, which gave power unto the prophets that they should go whithersoever they would; and by this cause the people were brought unto repentancea.
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25a by this cause the people were brought unto repentance Because Shule was righteous and did favor the prophets and did prosecute judgment against those who would persecute the prophets, it was Shule who did effect the successful mission of the prophets, like unto when the King of the Lamanites made his proclamation in favor of the sons of Mosiah. Thus it can be seen the value of a king if a king is a righteous man, for he will preserve the cause of God which will effect all of his people. But so also is the effects of a wicked king. |
24a
Mosiah 27:2 (1-3);
TG
Prophets, Rejection of; TG Reviling
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26 And because the people did repent of their iniquities and
idolatries the Lord did spare them, and they began to prosper again in the
land. And it came to pass that Shule abegat sons and
daughters in his old age.
27 And there were no more wars in the days of Shule; and he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them aacross the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days.
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26a
Ether 7:3, 7;
Ether 9:23 27a Ether 6:12 (1-12)
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