Dictionary of the Book of Mormon
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
81 BABYLON The land
into which the people of Judah were carried captive. This coming captivity,
together with the destruction of Jerusalem, was revealed by the Lord to Lehi
(B. C. 600), and his proclamation of its near approach was one of the causes
that led to his maltreatment by the Jews. Nephi also received manifestations of
this approaching calamity and so told his brethren, but Laman and Lemuel would
receive neither his words nor those of his father. Nephi also prophesied of the
destruction of Babylon (II Nephi 25:15). Babylon is mentioned several times in
the Book of Mormon in quotations from the prophet Isaiah. Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
82 BASHAN A district
of Canaan on the east of the River Jordan. It is mentioned once in the Book of
Mormon (II Nephi 12:19) in a quotation from Isaiah. Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
82 BENJAMIN The second
of the three prophetkings of the Nephites who reigned in the land of Zarahemla.
He was the son of Mosiah I, and father of Mosiah II, and, like
them, was most probably a seer. He undoubtedly held the priesthood, as he
received the ministration of angels, was favored with revelations from the
Lord, and organized the Church of Jesus Christ among his people. He was also
the custodian of the sacred records, etc., having received them from Amaleki,
who was childless. The time and place of his birth is not given, though it was
probably in the land of Nephi. He lived to a great age and died full of peace
and honor in Zarahemla, B. C. 122. He is illustrious for the justice and mercy
with which he administered the laws, for his great devotion to God and love for
his people, and for the frugality and simplicity of his personal life. Three of
his sons are mentioned by name, Mosiah, Helorum and Helaman, whom he caused to
be educated in all the learning of his fathers, giving especial attention to
their religious training and instruction in the history of God's dealings with
their fore-fathers. The reign
of Benjamin was not one of uninterrupted peace. Some time during its
continuance the aggressive Lamanites, not content with occupying the land of
Nephi, actually followed the Nephites into the land of Zarahemla and invaded
that also. The war was a fierce one. King Benjamin led his forces, armed with
the historic sword of Laban, and with it slew many of the enemy. Benjamin was
ultimately successful in driving the invading hosts out of all the regions
occupied by his people, with a loss to the Lamanites of many thousand warriors
slain. The reign
of Benjamin was also troubled with various religious impostors, false Christs,
pretended prophets, etc., who caused apostasy and dissensions among the people,
much to the sorrow of the good king. However, by the aid of some of the many
righteous men who dwelt in his dominions, he exposed the heresies, made
manifest the falsity of the claims of the self-styled Messiahs and prophets, and
restored unity of faith and worship among his subjects; and in such cases where
these innovators had broken the civil law, they were arraigned, tried, and
punished by that law. We may
presume that the original inhabitants of Zarahemla, just awakening to a newness
of religious life, were particularly subject to the influences brought to bear
by these imposters. They had but lately learned the mysteries of the plan of
salvation and of the coming of the Messiah to dwell among the sons of men. The
glory and beauty of this Divine advent filled their new-born souls with joyous
hope. Looking forward for the arrival of that happy day, with their first love
undiminished and their zeal unslackened, they were especially open to the
deceptions of those who cried, Lo, the Christ is come! or, Behold, a great
prophet hath arisen! There was
another class who, moved by the spirit of unrest, were a source of perplexity
to the king. They were those who, having left the land of Nephi with the
righteous, still permitted their thoughts and affections to be drawn towards
their former homes and old associations. The natural consequence was that they
were constantly agitating the idea of organizing expeditions to visit their old
homes. The first of these that actually started, of which we have an account,
fought among themselves with such fury that all were slain except fifty men,
who, in shame and sorrow, returned to Zarahemla to recount the miserable end of
their expedition. Yet some remained unsatisfied, and under the leadership of a
man named Zeniff, another company started on the ill-advised journey. Nothing
was heard from them while Benjamin reigned. When King
Benjamin was well stricken with years, the Lord directed him to consecrate his
son Mosiah to be his successor on the Nephite throne. Feeling that age was
impairing his energies he directed his son to gather the people together at the
temple that had been erected in Zarahemla, and he would then give them his
parting instructions. (B. C. 125.) Agreeable to this call the people gathered
at the temple, but so numerous had they grown that it was too small to hold
them. They also brought with them the firstlings of their flocks that they
might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the Mosaic law. As the
assembled thousands could not get inside the temple, they pitched their tents
by families, every one with its door towards the building, and the king had a
tower erected near the temple from which he spake. The
teachings of King Benjamin at these meetings were some of the most divine and
glorious ever uttered by man. He preached to his hearers the pure principles of
the gospel—the duty which men owed to their God and to their fellows. He also
told them how he had been visited by an angel, and what wondrous things the
angel had shown him concerning the coming of the God of Israel to dwell with
men in the flesh. When
Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered to him
by the angel, he observed that the power of his testimony had so worked upon
the Nephites that they, in the deep sense of their own unworthiness, had fallen
to the ground. And they cried out confessing their faith in the coming Messiah,
and pleading that through His atoning blood they might receive the forgiveness
of their sins, and that their hearts might be purified. After they had lifted
their deep-felt cry to heaven, the Spirit of the Lord came down upon them, and
because of their exceeding faith they received a remission of their sins. When
the king had finished his discourse he gave his people a new name, because of
the covenant they desired to make, which thing he greatly desired. The name
they were to bear forever after was the name of Christ, which should never be
blotted out except through transgression. Thus was established the first
Christian church in Zarahemla (B. C. 125), for every soul who heard these
teachings (except the very little children who could not understand) entered
into this sacred covenant with God, which most of them faithfully observed to
the end of their mortal lives. King
Benjamin's truly royal work was now done. He had lived to bring his people into
communion with their Creator, his spirit was full of heavenly joy, but his body
trembled under the weight of many years. So before he dismissed the multitude
he consecrated his son Mosiah to be their king, appointed priests to instruct
the people in the ways of the Lord, and, with his patriarchal blessing,
dismissed his subjects. Then, according to their respective families, they all
departed for their own homes. Mosiah now
reigned in his father's stead, while Benjamin, beloved and honored, remained
yet another three years on the earth before he returned to the presence of his
Father in heaven. Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
85 |
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
85 BETHABARY Otherwise
BETHABARA. The place "beyond Jordan" where John the Baptist baptized.
It is mentioned in Lehi's prophecy (I Nephi 10:9) of the baptism of the Savior. Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
85 |
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
85 BIRDS The birds
named in the Book of Mormon are the Bittern, Chicken, Dove, Fowl, Hen, Owl and
Vulture. Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
85 - 86 |
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
85 - 86 BOAZ, CITY OF A city
evidently situated a short distance north of the Isthmus of Panama. In the last
war between the Nephites and Lamanites, the Nephites having on one occasion
been beaten in a severe battle, in the land of Desolation, fled to Boaz. To
this place the Lamanites followed them, but were unsuccessful in their first
attack, as the Nephites defended it with great boldness. In their second attack
they carried the city, and the defenders suffered great loss. The conquerors
took the Nephite women and children whom they had made prisoners and sacrificed
them to their idols. (About A. C. 375.) Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
86 |
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
86 BOUNTIFUL, CITY OF The chief
city of the Nephites, in the land Bountiful, situated, apparently, not
far from the shore of the great eastern sea, and but a short distance south of
the Isthmus of Panama. It was the key to the Northern continent, and previous
to the birth of the Savior none of the invading armies of the Lamanites apear
to have been able to pass by it. It was strongly fortified by Moroni and
his associate commanders and successors, the Lamanite prisoners of war being
used by him on at least one occasion in this work (B. C. 64), until the city
was encircled with a deep ditch and a high wall of earth and timbers. "And
it became an exceeding strong place ever afterward." The Lamanite
prisoners were held within an enclosure the walls of which they were,
themselves, compelled to build; and their numbers were constantly added to as
the fortunes of war went against them. When the city Gid was retaken (B. C.
63), a large number of Lamanite prisoners captured therein were sent to
Bountiful. In the
great mission performed by Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, they commenced
their labors at the city Bountiful and thence continued southward. (B. C. 31.) It seems
probable that, in the great convulsions that attended the crucifixion of the
Redeemer, Bountiful did not suffer as severely as did many other cities; for
Jesus appeared to the Nephites who were assembled near the temple that stood in
that land; apparently it had not been destroyed, though possibly it was greatly
injured. Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
86 - 87 Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
87 |
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
86 - 87 BOUNTIFUL, LAND OF (In Arabia) This must
not be confounded with the Bountiful in the northern part of South America,
where the Savior appeared and taught the Nephites. It was a portion of Arabia
Felix, or Arabia the happy, so called in contradistinction to Arabia the stony,
and Arabia the desert, on account of its abundant productiveness and great
fertility. It was in this blessed region, on the shore of the Arabian sea, that
Nephi built the ship that carried Lehi's colony to the promised
land. To the sea itself they gave the name of Irreantum, which word means many
waters. Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
87 |
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Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p.
87 BOUNTIFUL, LAND OF The mst
northerly Nephite division of the South American Continent. It extended in the
north to the Isthmus of Panama, where it was bounded by the land Desolation.
Its other boundaries are indefinite, and undoubtedly varied greatly at
different eras of Nephite history, diminishing in extent as the wilderness was
settled, cities were founded and the neighboring regions made tributary to
them. Jershon appears to have been south and east of it. Its chief city bore
the same name. And on its northwest corner Hagoth built his celebrated
ship yards (B. C. 55.) Before the
land Bountiful was settled by the Nephites, it was a wilderness filled with
wild animals of every kind; some of which had come from the land northward for
food (Alma 22:31). But the Nephites, to prevent the Lamanites creeping up
through the wilderness along the coast, east and west, and in this way gaining
a foothold in the land northward, at as early a date as possible inhabited the
land Bountiful, from the east to the west sea (Alma 22:33), thus retaining
possession of the whole of the northern continent. In this
land (B. C. 68) a severe battle took place between the Nephite army, commanded
by Teancum, and the people of Morianton, in which the latter were
defeated and their leader slain. The next
year (B. C. 67) the victorious Lamanites, under Amalickiah, reached the
borders of Bountiful from the southeast driving the Nephites before them, but
their advance northward was checked by the forces of Teancum, by whom
Amalickiah, their king, was slain. In B. C.
66 Teancum, under instruction from Moroni, greatly strengthened the
fortifications in the land Bountiful, giving special attention to making the
Isthmus secure from capture. In the
year B. C. 64, a sanguinary battle was fought in the district between the
cities of Bountiful and Mulek, which resulted in Mulek being recaptured
from the Lamanites. In this battle the Nephites were commanded by Moroni, Lehi
and Teancum; and the Lamanites by Jacob, who was slain. The Lamanite prisoners
were so numerous that, as a precautionary step, they were set at the task of
intrenching and fortifying the land and city of Bountiful. In the year
B. C. 51 the Lamanites invaded Zarahemla, captured the capital and advanced
northward towards Bountiful, but their triumphal march was arrested by an army
commanded by Lehi, and they were eventually driven back to their own
lands. In B. C.
35 the Lamanites again invaded the lands of the Nephites, and the latter, owing
to their dissensions and wickedness, were everywhere driven before them, until,
in B. C. 34, they had overrun and taken possession of all the Nephite
posessions as far as the land bountiful. The Nephites, under Moronihah,
then threw up a line of fortifications entirely across the Isthmus, by which
means they protected the northern continent from invasion. In B. C. 32,
Moronihah reconquered the most northern portions of South America. In A. D.
16, Lachoneous, the chief judge, by reason of the perilous condition of
the people, from the constant attacks of the Gadianton robbers, decided
to mass the Nephites in one region, and chose Bountiful and Zarahemla for that
purpose. This bold movement he carried out, and held the people there until
after the destruction of the hosts of the robbers. In A. D. 26, the people were
permitted to return to their homes throughout the two continents. It was in
the land Bountiful that Jesus appeared and ministered to the Nephites. (Dictionary of the Book of Mormon, p. 89) |
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