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CHAPTER 7
Ammon finds the land of Lehi-Nephi where Limhi is king—Limhi's
people are in bondage to the Lamanites— |
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1 AND now, it came to pass that after king Mosiah had had continual
peace for the space of three years, he was desirous to know concerning the
people who awent up to dwell in the land of
bLehi-Nephia, or in
the city of Lehi-Nephib; for
his people had heard nothing from them from the time they left the land
of cZarahemlac;
therefore, they wearied him with their teasings.
2 And it came to pass that *king Mosiah granted that sixteen of their strong men might go up to the land of Lehi-Nephia to inquire concerning their brethren.
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1a land of Lehi-Nephi It is
Mormon, the abridgement commentator and compiler who speaks knowing the
name of the land and city to be Lehi-Nephi, it seeming to be that land in
close proximity which includes the joint lands of Lehi's first inheritance
and Nephi's later departure inheritance. Or in other wards, the border which
was shared between the two lands. Now this particular land which was to the
western extreme of the Land of Nephi and to the eastern extreme of the Land
of Lehi's first inheritance, known by the joint names of Lehi and Nephi was
further apparently at the northern extreme of the lands occupied by the
Lamanites at this time. The association of the name Lehi, who died within a
few years of the party's arrival in the promised land and their subsequent
journey and arrival in the 'land of first inheritance', would tend to
indicated that this land was more closely associated with that land of first
inheritance rather than the interior of the land to which Nephi subsequently
fled to after Lehi's death in order to isolate himself and his people from
the Lamanites who sought after his life.
1b city of Lehi-Nephi This city, first introduced by Mormon who had the greater perspective of knowing the beginnin from the end in his abridgement effort was stipulated by him as not merely the city of Nephi but the city of 'Lehi-Nephi', thus associating Lehi as well as Nephi with the city. The Book of Mormon teaches that the 'Nephite custom was to call their cities after him (them) who first possessed them' (Alma 8:7). With this logic, this would seem to the the 'initial' city/land founded by Lehi and Nephi was this land in the land of first inheritance while Lehi yet lived. This with other such evidence would preclude that this city of Lehi-Nephi IS NOT the city of Nephi where Nephi built his temple like unto Solomon's temple. While this city of 'Lehi-Nephi' is later referenced as just the city of Nephi, it is not that original city of 'just' Nephi where that temple like Solomon's was built and which was 'many days' distance from that original land of first inheritance. That city would have been logically further to the south in the center of the greater Land of Nephi and much further into the interior of the land, again 'many days distance from the 'land of first inheritance upon the borders of the sea which this 'other' city of Nephi (Lehi-Nephi) is located within tower vision observation of the movements of their neighboring Lamaites . 1c his people had heard nothing from them from the time they left the land of Zarahemla The fact that neither of the groups of Nephites had heard nothing concerning the other for three generations despite the wars which had occured between the Nephites and Lamanites does but attest to the vastness of the land. The Lamanite group which the people of Zeniff, Noah and Limhi dealt with does appear to be an entirely different group that which King Benjamin had to war with and which he gained great advantage over. For certainly with their towers of observation which the Nephites had built to observe the movement of the Lamanites who dwelt to their immediate west, they would have noted any such massive war movements by them toward the land of Zarahemla and noted such. But all four groups seem quite obliveous of each other, the Lamanite group which deals with Zeniff, Noah and Limhi, the Lamanites group who wars with King Benjamin, the poeple of Zeniff, Noah and Limhi, and the people of Mosiah I, Benjamin and Mosiah II in Zarahemla. 2a go up to the land of Lehi-Nephi This 'directional ' phrasology is consistant through out in the Book of Mormon, One goes down into the Land of Zarahemla from the south and one goes up unto the Land of Nephi from the perspective of Zarahemla. This is but a great 'elevation' indicator which is based upon the fact the Zarahemla lies 'down' and into the great valley of the river Sidon while to travel back to the land of Nephi, it requires one to climb back out of that great valley south into the highlands from which the river originates and thence futher south to the land of Nephi. And while the land of Lehi=Nephi was likely nearer to 'sea level' than that of Zarahemla, they seem to have had no such perspective among them to determine what was at 'sea level' and what was not. And the 'steepness of the climb down into and back out of the land of Zarahemla's valley of Sidon, would seem to them to be that the 'direct' to the land of Zarahemla was always down and the direction to the land of Nephi was always back up. And thus it further appears that the land of Lehi-Nephi as will as the land of Nephi was of a more gradual descent over a greater span of space to not denot that they were going down to the land of Lehi-Nephi despite the fact that it was near sea level that was the city of immediate land of Zarahemla.
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1a
Omni 1:27 (27-30) b 2 Ne. 5:8; Mosiah 9:6 b Omni 1:13 2* [About 121 B.C.]
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3 And it came to pass that on the morrow they started to go up,
having with them one aAmmon, he being a strong and mighty
man, and a bdescendant of Zarahemla; and he was also their
leader.
4 And now, they knew not the course they should travel in the wildernessc to go up to the land of Lehi-Nephia; therefore they wandered many days in the wildernessb, even aforty days did they wanderc. 5 And when they had wandered forty days they came to a ahill, which is north of the land of bShilom, and there they pitched their tents.
King Noah built a 'tower' next to his temple which was likely on a hill and at a higher elevation to over look the land from near this hill. And upon the hill itself he did build another tower (Mosiah 11:13). Now Ammon's party pitched their tents on the north of the hill. Now, for this hill to be the retreat of Mosiah's large number of peple, the source of the heightened elevation of Noah's tower and a foothill of the temple, and to be where Ammon's 16 men camped undetected on its north side of this same 'hill'; it must not be a small hill but one of considerable size. |
4a go up to the land of
Lehi-Nephi The city of Zarahemla was in the center of the nation
of Zarahemla upon the western bank of the Sidon river in the Sidon valley
about half way up or down the river. The Sidon river generally flowed down
out of the mountains running to the north. In order to go from Zarahelma to the
original lands of Lehi and Nephi, one would have to first travel up the
upper length of the Sidon valley and beyond the head of the river Sidon.
And then thence on to the land of Lehi-Nephi. Thus from Zarahemla the would
'go up' in elevation from their river valley home of Zarahemla, into the
mountains separating the nation of Zarahemla and what had become the nation
of the Lamanites which the Nepites contintued to call the land of Nephi.
4b they wandered many days in the wilderness Ammon was a descendant of Zarahemla and had 'brethren' who had come to live in the land of Lehi-Nephi. His party of 16 men would have no problem tracing the river Sidon up to the land which would become known as Manti at its headwaters. It would be from thence to the land of 'Lehi-Nephi' where they would have 'wandered'. This land and wilderness was much wider than the eventual 'narrow strip of wilderness' of Alma chapter 22. Various new cities and advances of civilization would encroached upon that extended wilderness before the time of Alma 22. 
4c they knew not the couse they should
travel in the wilderness ... even forty days did they wander One needs to practice caution when
considering what the Book of Mormon does and does not state. It is a highly
condensed and abridged account, not making all things perfectly clear in
detail. Earlier the Book of Mormon spoke of '3 days' journey in the
wilderness from Jerusalem to the Valley of Lemuel. In considering that
distance to be over 200 miles and near 250 miles, it is most logically
asscertained that Lehi's family took more time than just a 3 day journey from
Jerusalem before reaching the Valley of Lemuel. Thus it was more logiclly
concluded that the '3 day' spoken of there were the 3 days in the wilderness
of the Red Sea after Lehi's party had departed from the known roads and
courses of civilation which the 'King's Highway' and other known roads would
have brought them to BEFORE departing into the wilderness
another 3 days journey in that wilderness where no such road was existant.
This seems to be the same situation here. The 40 days 'TRAVEL IN THE
WILDERNESS' seems to be just that, in the wilderness and not of
the entire journey. In terms of the greater national land of Zarahemla,
Ammon's party of 16 men would not have 'departed into the wilderness' until
they had reached the known highlands of Manti and the southern most reaches
of the greater national lands of Zarahemla. Thus in the 'manner of language
and speech' similar to the reference of the 3 day journey in the wilderness
from Jerusalem to the Valley of Lemuel, the '40 days', that 'wandering',
which took place is soley concerning the 'unknown wilderness' between the
southern reaches of the civilization of the nation of Zarahamela and that of
the Lamanites found. It does not include the journey days from the city of
Zarahemla to the edge of the unknown wilderness, just as the 3 days journey
in the wilderness of the Red Sea did not include the days traveled in the
known and established parts of the land until Lehi's party left the King's
Highway and departed into the unknown wilderness of the Red Sea rather than
continuing on into the sea port city once known as Ezion-Geber.
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3a
Mosiah 8:2 b Omni 1:14 4a Num. 13:25 (17-25) 5a Mosiah 11:13 b Mosiah 9:14 (6, 8, 14); Mosiah 11:12 (12-13); Mosiah 22:11 (8, 11); Alma 23:12
 Just how the 'land of first inheritance' and the historical land of Nephi had become known as the land of Lehi-Nephi upon its ajoining borders is not given in detail in the Book of Mormon. What was once the separated lands of 'Lehi' and 'Nephi' after Nephi's departure into the wilderness to avoid being killed by Laman and Lemuel had now become neighbors upon ajoining borders. This likely involved spreading forth upon the land by both groups. It can hardly be expected that what were in the time of Limhi the lands of Shilom and Shemlon could be the same lands of Lehi's original inheritance and the land to which Nephi fled. Many miles and many days travel separated those two locations now some 350 years past. Shilom was upon the very most northern most borders of the land of 'Lehi-Nephi' and it was bordering 'neighbors' with the Lamanite land of Shemlon where the Lamanite king could keep close tabs on them. It seems most likely that the twin cities of Shilom and Lehi-Nephi are not the location of Nephi's original city of refuge where he had built the temple like unto Solomon's. |
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6 And aAmmon took three of his brethren, and their
names were Amaleki, Helem, and Hem, and they went down into the land of
bNephi.
7 And behold, they met the king of the people who were in the land of Nephi, and in the land of aShiloma; and they were surrounded by the king's guard, and were btaken, and were cbound, and were committed to dprison.
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7a in the land of Nephi, and in the land
of Shilom While there seems to be at first reading two finitely
separate lands here stipulated, being the land of Nephi and the land of
Shilom, a more careful reading suggests that what there really was is a
larger national land and only one of its sub-units or sub-sets being spoken
of. When one takes into consideration that the national 'Land of Nephi'
was in fact ALL that land now of the Lamanites, then it becomes
clearer that what is being spoken of here is the 'whole' of the Land,
the Lamanite King of such and just a sub-unit of that greater land. That is,
Shilom was a sub-provincial land of the greater land of Nephi. Now the king
of the Lamanites does give two lands to Zeniff's people, Shilom and
Lehi-Nephi (a seeming province between the provincial land of Nephi and that
of Lehi's original land of First Inheritance), but both of these are but
'sub-provinces' of the greater land, the national land of Nephi. And whether
the King of 'All' the land is he with whom Zeniff deals or with just the King
of Shemlon is of some question.
Now Mormon, who abridges the Nephite records about 350 A.D. and who never did live in the national land of Nephi, may contribute to the lack of clarity of the lands and cities. Either from the 'error of condensation' or that of convience, it does seem that Mormon, who initially takes care to call the second city of Zeniff, Noah and Limhi by the name of 'Lehi-Nephi' for whatever reason drops off the 'Lehi' and just starts calling it by the single name of 'Nephi'. This confuses many issues and Mormon who never lived in the land may not have considered that he had just done so. After all Mormon's account was only one-hundreth part and concerned primarily with the gospel message, not geography. Also, Mormon's abridgement may well have left out much of the story or perhaps it never was there, but for some reason the city of 'Lehi-Nephi' suddenly seems to just drop out of the picture as when Limhi's people escape from the land, they do so only from the city of Shilom and no mention is made at that time of the other city. Even when Ammon's 16 men come to Limhi's land, only the single city of Shilom is cited and Limhi is ruling for it rather than from 'Lehi-Nephi' where his father had ruled from. Either the two cities where close enough that they became one within one wall or perhaps the Lamanites retook the other city as part of their 50% taxation. As stipulated in Mosiah 9:8, the two cities built up and maintained by the people of Zeniff, Noah and Limhi, were called by the names of Shilom and Lehi-Nephi and Mormon shortens the name of Lehi-Nephi to just Nephi in a part of his account, perhaps for convinence in engraving? Lehi was dead by the time that Nephi established his first 'city' where he built the temple like unto Solomon's. After over 300 years, the Nephites built many other cities and likely other temples. It is not clear whether Noah built his own temple or refurbished one that Zeniff built or had been left in the city prior by earlier Nephites. The presumption that Noah's temple is the same which Nephi built is just that, a presumption not based upon all of the facts. But the fact that the tower built next to it was able to over look the likely lower land of Shemlon to the west where the Lamanites who they dealt with lived and that they detected no such reported movements of these Lamanites to war against Zarahemla in the days of King Benjamin and King Noah who were contemporaries; seem to speak to the consideration that the Lamanites who Noah and Limhi dealt with were not the same Lamanite group which warred against the Nephites in Zarahemla in King Benjamin's day. These Lamanites certainly could not find their way around the wilderness between Zarahemla and their own land very well and seems to also indicate that they had not done so before in order to go down and fight with King Benjamin in Zarahemla. This further atests to the greater size of the national land of Nephi considering the likelihood of two such Lamanite groups, the one who contends against King Benjamin and does successfully navigate the wilderness between and the other who deals with Noah and Limhi out of Shemlon and become lost in that same wilderness. |
6a
Mosiah 21:22, 26 b 2 Ne. 5:8; Mosiah 9:1 (1, 3-4); Mosiah 28:1 (1, 5); Alma 50:8 (8, 11) 7a Mosiah 22:8 b Mosiah 21:21 c Alma 17:20 d Mosiah 21:23 (22-24)
Second, what the record of Zeniff calls by the name of 'Lehi-Nephi' seems to be for convience or per Mormon's personal understanding though he never did dwell in the national Land of Nephi simply reduced to just 'Nephi' in Mormon's abridgment. This is evident because Noah constructs a tower next to the temple on 'temple hill' in Lehi-Nephi, his capital city, which was tall enough to over look both the land of Shimlom to Lehi-Nephi's north and the land of the Lamanites, the land of Shemlon to its east (Mosiah 11:12). This 'visual distance' between the lands of Lehi-Nephi and Shilom to the land of Shemlon of the Lamanites, precludes that the land and city of Lehi-Nephi and that land and city of the prophet Nephi who built a temple like unto Solomon in his first city, ARE NOT the same, for Nephi did journey 'many days' being led by the Lord and the Liahona to place safe space and distance out of not only visual but travel mileage between his people and the people of Laman to escape their pursecution and murderous intent. Now I can visually see from Hill Field's ridge to Kennicott's smoke stack across the flat Great Salt Lake, some thirty miles, but that is only about a day or two's conserted journey and still I cannot make out the movement of people, houses, cars and things in Magna due to the curvature of the earth. The lands of Lehi-Nephi on the south, Shilom to its north and Shemlon to both their east was so close that movements of people and armies could be discerned. It should be noted here that Noah's second tower upon the hill of Shilom was that city's 'lookout tower' NOT a Ziggaret Temple Tower, as he had built one for each city and land to spy on the Lamanites. Third, when Ammon and his 16 men come upon the people of Limhi, Limhi is no longer using the city of Lehi-Nephi as his city to rule from as did his father and Ammon is taken prisoner out side the walls of Shilom. Mormon's abridgment does not detail just when the city of Lehi-Nephi, called by Mormon by just the name of Nephi, may have fallen to the Lamanites, but when the people of Limhi escape from the Lamanites, they do so only from the city of Shilom and no mention if ever made of the fate of Lehi-Nephi. Presumably Lehi-Nephi may have fell in some military action or as a result of the heavey 50% tax extracted by the Lamanites upon Limhi's Nephites. Thus many details of the city to the south of Shilom are missing. Fourth just one generation later when the sons of King Mosiah return to the land of Nephi, there are many provincial lands revealed to the reader. There is the Land of Ishmael ruled by Lamoni, the son of the King of all the land of the Lamanites or 'All the Land of Nephi. Lamoni and his father are both descendants of Ishmael, not of Laman. And as to what happens with respect to the King Laman of Shemlon of the Lamanites who dealt with Zeniff, Noah and Limhi, is not even mentioned. And Lamoni's father rules from the city of Nephi, presumably 'THE city of Nephi' in the center of the Land. Perhaps that city of Nephi is the one which is the same as that of the Prophet Nephi where he built his temple. Some of the names of these provencial lands and cities are given in a list which names all who had converted unto the Lord through the missionary efforts of the sons of Mosiah. These are the lands and cities of Ishmael, Middoni, Nephi, Shilom, Shemlon, Lemuel and Shimnilom (Alma 23:9-12). This is ONLY the cities and land of the converts. This list does not include such cities and lands possesed by the Lamanites who did not convert such as Alma, Amulon, Helam, Midian, Ani-Anti, Jerusalem (perhaps 'New Jerusalem' and the real name of the city first inhabited by Nephi who builds a temple like unto Solomon's), Siron (the land of Isabel the Harlot), Onidah, Lehi-Nephi and Mormon. Even after the conversion of the people of Lamoni to the Nephites, the Lamanites far out numbered the Nephites. Thus their lands and cities must have been many more than what is named in the abridged Book of Mormon record as there would have been many other un-named cities and lands such as Laman and of all those other Lamanites. |
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8 And it came to pass when they had been in prison two days they were
again brought before the king, and their bands were loosed; and they stood
before the king, and were permitted, or rather acommanded,
that they should answer the questions which he should ask them.
9 And he said unto them: Behold, I am aLimhi, the son of Noah, who was the son of Zeniff, who came up out of the bland of Zarahemla to inherit this land, which was the land of their fathers, who was made a cking by the dvoice of the people. 10 And now, aI desire to know the cause whereby ye were so bold as to come near the walls of the city, when I, myself, was with my guards without the bgatea? 11 And now, for this cause have I suffered that ye should be preserved, that I might inquire of you, or else I should have caused that my guards should have put you to death. Ye are permitted to speak. |
10a ye were so bold as to come near the walls of the city, when I, myself was with my guards without the gate Now the strained order of the kingdom of Limhi is herein presented, that the people were not normall armed as was Ammon and his brethren. Nor were the people so 'bold' to approach the king, as the precautions were great according to the subjugation under which the kingdom did dwell. There must have been great unrest among the people of Limhi as to what to do about the covenant they had entered into and were obliged to live under at the hand of the Lamanites. Such civil unrest seems to have caused extra precaution on the part of king Limhi's administration to the point of not allowing the people to approach the king. Perhaps there were those who even sought Limhi's life and the over throw of his rule to a supposed end of rebelling against the Lamanites, to cast off the burdern of the yoke of the Lamanites. |
8a
Alma 14:19 9a Mosiah 11:1; Mosiah 19:16 b Omni 1:13 c TG Kings, Earthly d Mosiah 19:26 10a Mosiah 21:23 (23-24) b Josh. 20:4
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12 And now, when Ammon saw that he was permitted to speak, he went
forth and abowed himself before the king; and rising again
he said: O king, I am very thankful before God this day that I am yet alive,
and am permitted to speak; and I will endeavor to speak with boldness;
13 For I am assured that if ye had known me ye would not have suffered that I should have worn these bands. For I am Ammon, and am a adescendant of Zarahemla, and have come up out of the bland of Zarahemla to inquire concerning our brethren, whom cZeniff brought up out of that land. |
12a
Alma 47:22-23 13a Omni 1:14 b Omni 1:13 c Mosiah 8:2; Mosiah 9:1
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14 And now, it came to pass that after Limhi had heard the words of
Ammon, he was exceedingly aglad, and said: Now, I know of a
surety that my brethren who were in the land of Zarahemla are
byet alive. And now, I will rejoice; and on the morrow I
will cause that my people shall rejoice also.
15 For behold, we are in bondage to the Lamanites, and are ataxed with a tax which is grievous to be borne. And now, behold, our brethren will deliver us out of our bbondage, or out of the hands of the Lamanites, and we will be their cslaves; for it is better that we be slaves to the Nephites than to pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites. |
14a
Mosiah 21:24 b Mosiah 21:25-26 15a Mosiah 19:15 b TG Bondage, Physical c TG Slavery
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16 And now, king Limhi commanded his guards that they should no more
bind Ammon nor his brethren, but caused that they should go to the
ahill
which was north of Shiloma, and
bring their brethren into the city, that thereby they might eat, and drink,
and rest themselves from the labors of their journey; for they had
suffered many things; they had suffered hunger, thirst, and fatigue.
17 And now, it came to pass on the morrow that king Limhi sent a proclamation among all his people, that thereby they might gather themselves together to the atemple to hear the words which he should speak unto them. |
16a the hill which was north of Shilom This hill was north of the northern most reaches of civilization in the land of Nephi. Only wilderness lay to the north of Shilom and that hill. Elsewhere () this hill is pointed out as the 'refuge' of Mosiah I and his people as they fled from the land of Nephi north into the wilderness and thus on down into the river valley of Sidon where the people and limited city of Zarahemla was located about halfway down that river valley in the heart of the greater land which would also bear the name of the land and nation of Zarahemla. |
16a
Mosiah
11:13 17a 2 Ne. 5:16; Alma 16:13; Alma 26:29 * [About 121 B.C.]
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18 And it came to pass that when they had gathered themselves
together that he aspake unto them in this wise, saying: O
ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is
at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to
our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain;
yet I trust there bremaineth an effectual struggle to be
made.
19 Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your atrust in bGod, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who cbrought the children of dIsrael out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red eSea on dry ground, and fed them with fmanna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them. |
18a
Mosiah 8:1 b Mosiah 22:1-16 19a TG Trust in God b Ex. 3:6 (2-10); 1 Ne. 19:10; D&C 136:21 c Ex. 12:51; 1 Ne. 17:40; Mosiah 12:34; Alma 36:28 d TG Israel, Origins of e Josh. 2:10; 1 Ne. 4:2; 1 Ne. 17:26 f Ex. 16:15, 35; Num. 11:7-8; Josh. 5:12; John 6:49; 1 Ne. 17:28
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20 And again, that same God has brought our fathers
aout of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved
his people even until now; and behold, it is bbecause of
our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage.
21 And ye all are witnesses this day, that Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being aover-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shiloma; and the land round about— |
21a yielded up into his hands the
possessions of a part of the land, ore even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the
city of Shilom Here it plainly states for those who will carefully
read and consider, that the Lamanites only yeilded 'a part of the
land'. That did not return all of the land of the Nephites into the
hands of the people of Zeniff, only a part of it and that part was the most
northern part which lay west upon the borders of the Lamanites. For it was
the intent of the Lamanite king to eventually enslave the Nephites, thus he
wanted them near unto his own land that he might observe and eventually
exercise power over them.
Now these two cities were name Lehi-Nephi, it being a city upon the border between the lands which the Nephites had been dwelling in and the original land that Lehi came to dwell in prior to his death, the land of first inheritance. Thus the name consisted of both Lehi and Nephi. And also the Nephites were given the other most northern city of the Nephites called Shilom. Now some speculate that this city of Lehi-Nephi was that city which Nephi himself built. But considering that it was skewed both to the north and to the west upon the border with the Lamanites, it is more than likely that it was not. For that city of Nephi would have been logically more in the center of the land for Nephi did journey many days led by the guidance of the Lord before he settled in his first land and city. Thus it would have been a greater distance removed from the land of the Lamanites. Also, as so indicated here, this land grant to Zeniff was only a part of the land and the northern part at that. When Nephi's people began to spread out upon the land from their central city of Nephi, where he had built a temple like unto Solomon's. And thus there would logically be a 'buffer' of lands and cities round about that first city to its north, south, east and west. Erik von Dieken, a non-Mormon writer has speculate from his investigations and research, that in his belief, for he believes the Book of Mormon to be an ancient record but not in Mormonism; that the ancient city of Chaven de Haunter is that first city of Nephi in central Peru. |
20a
1 Ne. 2:2 (1-4) b Deut. 28:15 (1-2, 15-68) 21a Mosiah 9:3 (1-3)
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22 And all this he did, for the sole purpose of
abringing this people into subjection or into bondage. And
behold, we at this time do pay btribute to the king of the
Lamanites, to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even
all our grain of every kind, and one half of the increase of our flocks and
our herds; and even one half of all we have or possess the king of
the Lamanites doth exact of us, or our lives.
23 And now, is not this grievous to be borne? And is not this, our affliction, great? Now behold, how great reason we have to amourn. 24 Yea, I say unto you, great are the reasons which we have to amourn; for behold how many of our brethren have been slain, and their blood has been spilt in vain, and all because of iniquity. 25 For if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come upon them. But behold, they would not hearken unto his words; but there arose contentions among them, even so much that they did shed blood among themselves. |
22a
Mosiah 9:10;
Mosiah 10:18 b TG Tribute 23a Prov. 29:2 24a Ezek. 24:23; Hel. 9:22
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26 And a aprophet of the Lord have they
bslain; yea, a chosen manof God, who told them of their
wickedness and abominations, and prophesied of many things which are to come,
yea, even the coming of Christ.
27 And because he said unto them that Christ was the aGod, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the bimage of man, and it should be the cimage after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of dGod, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth— 28 And now, because he said this, they did aput him to death; and many more things did they do which brought down the wrath of God upon them. Therefore, who wonderetha that they are in bondage, and that they are smitten with sore afflictions? |
28a who wonderereth This is an awkward expression which is clarified by the use of more than one word. It means 'who is surprised' or 'who would be surprised' by the bondage of the people of Limhi, for they understandably brought it upon themselves, having been warned of God that it would come. Now whether this expression, 'wondereth' was a common expression of Joseph Smith's day or a 'one word' equivalent meaning from one 'word in the Reformed Egyptain', it is not known. But if the translation was to atempt to put meaning word to word, then this would explain some of the awkwardness of speach in the Book of Mormon. For what language ever does so translate word by word or Reformed Egyptian character to English word, without some awkward word formations for some words in one language do not have an easy equal single equivalent in another language without causing some awkwardness of statements. |
26a
Mosiah 17:20 (12-20) b TG Prophets, Rejection of 27a Isa. 9:6; 2 Ne. 26:12; Mosiah 27:31 (30-31) b TG God, Body of—Corporeal Nature c Gen. 1:26-28; Ether 3:15 (14-17); D&C 20:18 (17-18); D&C 130:22 d Mosiah 13:34; Mosiah 15:2 (1-7); Alma 7:9-13 28a Mosiah 17:13
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29 For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not
asuccor my people in the day of their transgression; but I
will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as
a bstumbling block before them.
30 And again, he saith: If my people shall sow afilthiness they shall breap the cchaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison. 31 And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the aeast wind, which bringeth immediate destruction. |
29a
Josh. 24:20;
1 Sam. 12:15;
2 Chr. 24:20 b Jer. 6:21 30a TG Filthiness b Hosea 8:7; Gal. 6:8 (7-8); D&C 6:33; TG Harvest c Luke 3:17; 2 Ne. 15:24 31a Gen. 41:23; Jer. 18:17; Ezek. 27:26; Jonah 4:8; Mosiah 12:6
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32 And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye
are smitten and afflicted.
33 But if ye will aturn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all bdiligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.
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33a
Deut. 30:10;
Lam. 5:21;
Morm. 9:6; D&C 98:47 b TG Diligence
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| * Verse 2 [About 121 B.C.]. | |||
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