|
|
|
|
CHAPTER 19Gideon seeks to slay King Noah—The Lamanites invade the land—King Noah suffers death by fire—Limhi rules as a tributary monarch. [Between 145 and 122 B.C.] |
||
|
1 AND it came to pass that the aarmy of the king
returned, having searched in vain for the people of the Lord.
2 And now behold, the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people. 3 And the lesser part began to abreathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them.
|
1a
Mosiah 18:33 3a Acts 9:1
|
|
|
4 And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and
he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew
his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.
5 And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the atower which was near the templea.
|
5a the tower which was near the temple Of course this is the tower built by the temple in the city of Lehi-Nephi (Mosiah 11:12). The other tower being of the city of Shilom upon the hill adjacent the city of Shilom (Mosiah 11:13). These two towers where 'LOOKOUT' towers. They were not grand Ziggurat or pyramidal structures of death and worship. They were functional towers for the purpose of stategical observation of one's enemy's movements. The one upon 'temple hill' in Lehi-Nephi was upon the highest hill of that city so that they could 'lookout' over the land of Lehi-Nephi and see also the land of Shilom to the north and the land of the Lamanites of Shemlon to the west. And so it was with the tower upon the hill north of the city of Shilom, it was upon that hill's hieght facing so they could observe both the land of the Lamanites, Shemlon and their own sister city Lehi-Nephi. (See Geography of Lehi-Nephi) |
5a
Judg. 9:51 (50-55);
Mosiah 11:12
|
|
6 And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to
slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of
aShemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within
the borders of the land.
7 And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, aspare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us; yea, they will destroy my people. 8 And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his aown life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.
|
6a
Mosiah 10:7;
Mosiah 11:12;
Mosiah 20:1 7a Deut. 13:8 (6-9) 8a TG Selfishness
|
|
|
9 And the king commanded the people that they should flee before
the Lamanites, and he himself did go before them, and they did
flee into the wilderness, with their women and their children.
10 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue them, and did overtake them, and began to slay them. 11 Now it came to pass that the king commanded them that all the men should aleave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites.
|
11a
Mosiah 19:19-23
|
|
|
12 Now there were many that would not leave them, but had rather
stay and perish with them. And the rest left their wives and
their children and fled.
13 And it came to pass that those who tarried with their wives and their children caused that their fair daughters should stand forth and plead with the Lamanites that they would not slay them. 14 And it came to pass that the Lamanites had compassion on them, for they were charmed with the beauty of their women.
|
|
|
|
15 Therefore the Lamanites did spare their lives, and took them
captives and carried them back to the land of Nephi [Lehi-Nephi], and granted
unto them that they might possess the land, under the conditions that they
would deliver up king Noah into the hands of the Lamanites, and deliver up
their property, even aone half of all they possessed, one
half of their gold, and their silver, and all their precious things, and thus
they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites from year to
yeara.
16 And now there was one of the sons of the king among those that were taken captive, whose name was aLimhi. 17 And now Limhi was desirous that his father should not be destroyed; nevertheless, Limhi was not ignorant of the iniquities of his father, he himself being a just man.
|
15a they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites from year to year The tribute tax was an annual tax to be paid on a yearly basis, most likely at the times of harvest when the people would gather together and work in the fields and then further gather to exact the tribute to be paid and presented unto the Lamanites. |
15a
Mosiah 7:15 16a Mosiah 7:9; Mosiah 11:1
|
|
18 And it came to pass that Gideon sent men into the wilderness
secretly, to search for the king and those that were with him.
And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness,
all save the king and his priests.
19 Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi [Lehi-Nephi], and if their awives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them.
|
19a
Mosiah 19:11
|
|
|
20 And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they
were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto
adeath by fire.
21 And they were about to take the priests also and aput them to death, and they fled before them. 22 And it came to pass that they were about to return to the land of Nephi [Lehi-Nephi], and they met the men of Gideon. And the men of Gideon told them of all that had happened to their wives and their children; and that the Lamanites had granted unto them that they might possess the land by paying a tribute to the Lamanites of one half of all they possessed.
|
20a
Mosiah 12:3;
Mosiah 13:10; Mosiah 17:18 (13-19); Alma 25:11 (7-12) 21a Mosiah 20:3
|
|
|
23 And the people told the men of aGideon that they
had slain the king, and his bpriests had fled from them farther into the
wilderness.
24 And it came to pass that after they had ended the ceremony, that they returned to the land of Nephi [Lehi-Nephi], rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain; and they told Gideon what they had done to the king.
|
23a
Mosiah 20:17 b Mosiah 17:12 (1, 6, 12-18); Mosiah 20:23 (3, 18, 23)
|
|
|
25 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an
aoath 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 boath unto the king of the Lamanites that his people should pay ctribute unto him, even one half of all they possesseda. 27 And it came to pass that Limhi began to establish the kingdom and to establish apeace among his people.
|
26a even one half of all they possessed Now whether because of the 50% tax of all that they had meaning that eventually the city and land of Lehi-Nephi would revert to the Lamanites or whether because of the people's dimishing population that they vacated Lehi-Nephi in favor of the land and city of Shilom or beacue of the pressures of the Lamanites against them they were compeled to so vacate that land and city, by the time Ammon finds them, they are all living in the city of Shilom and King Limhi is ruling from that city as the tributary king unto the Lamanites. It will be from this city only that the recorded account states that they did escape. And the city and land of Lehi-Nephi just drops out of the record, presumably fallen, taxed or vacated to the Lamanites. |
25a
Mosiah 21:3 26a Mosiah 7:9 b Mosiah 20:14, 22 c Mosiah 22:7 27a TG Peacemakers
|
|
28 And the king of the Lamanites set aguards round
about the land, that he might bkeep 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. |
28a
Mosiah 21:5;
Mosiah 22:6-10 b Mosiah 7:22; Mosiah 9:10
|
| This BM Book | Previous BM Chapter | Next BM Chapter | Commentary Page | Home Page |