Mosiah 9 | |
1 I, Zeniff, having been taught in all the language of the Nephites, and having had a knowledge of the land of Nephi, or of the land of our fathers' first inheritance, and having been sent as a spy among the Lamanites that I might spy out their forces, that our army might come upon them and destroy them--but when I saw that which was good among them I was desirous that they should not be destroyed. | 1 |
2 Therefore, I contended with my brethren in the wilderness, for I would that our ruler should make a treaty with them; but he being an austere and a blood-thirsty man commanded that I should be slain; but I was rescued by the shedding of much blood; for father fought against father, and brother against brother, until the greater number of our army was destroyed in the wilderness; and we returned, those of us that were spared, to the land of Zarahemla, to relate that tale to their wives and their children. | 2 1 This verse contains the word "austere" which is only used twice in the KJV bible, both in Luke 19. Compare the usage in this verse with "he being an austere and a blood-thirsty man commanded that I should be slain" to its usage in Luke 19:12,27 with "thou art an austere man" and later in Luke 19 it states "bring hither, and slay them before me". Note the command form of that last phrase. These dual parallels, one extremely rare and the other less rare, show an odd connection between this Book of Mormon verse and one specific chapter in the New Testament. These type of connections typically remain unexplained within the faithful narrative. |
3 And yet, I being over-zealous to inherit the land of our fathers, collected as many as were desirous to go up to possess the land, and started again on our journey into the wilderness to go up to the land; but we were smitten with famine and sore afflictions; for we were slow to remember the Lord our God. | Prosperity gospel 31 This is sort of a flip side to the prosperity gospel. |
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Anachronism 91 There was no wheat in pre-Columbian Americas. Many critics have indicated there was no barley in the pre-Columbian Americas, however there were some wild varieties and at least one variety that was domesticated (little barley or hordeum pusillum). Since even little barley didn’t seem to be a major crop, the term barley seems to be an anachronism in the context of this passage describing barley on par with corn. Corn production was much better and supplanted little barley cultivation as I understand it. (See 3rd paragraph of p. 146 of Guns, Germs, and Steel 20th Anniversary Edition by Jared Diamond for more context on this.) Neas - I find nothing on what this might be. It is like the cureloms and cumoms of Ether 9:19. Sheum - Some apologists argue that this is Akkadian for “barley.” I’m not sure why Zeniff would list barley twice in this case, but assuming that by “sheum” he meant an edible grain similar to barley, that could work. However, there are some problems with this. First, Akkadian was a language spoken in what is now Iraq and Syria until about 500 BCE. It is not very plausible that Nephites would retain an Akkadian word for a grain for almost 400 years after Lehi left the old world. At least one other source says that there was an ancient Egyptian grain “sm” or “shm” that would be a more likely candidate for “sheum.” In the end, it’s all just speculation, and one must pre-suppose the Book of Mormon recounts what actually happened to find any value in the word “sheum.” | |
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11 1 How many people would Zeniff have gotten to follow him to get the land of their inheritance after coming back the first time and telling everybody about the slaughter they just had in the wilderness killing many of their own people? Yet 12 years later, this band of Zeniffites is large enough to leave the Lamanites feeling threatened? See verse 18 of this chapter. The Zeniffites killed more than 3,000 Lamanites in one battle where warriors were hastily pulled together. The Zeniffites would have to be quite a large community or group in order to pull this off. | |
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14 For, in the thirteenth year of my reign in the land of Nephi, away on the south of the land of Shilom, when my people were watering and feeding their flocks, and tilling their lands, a numerous host of Lamanites came upon them and began to slay them, and to take off their flocks, and the corn of their fields. | 14 |
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AnachronismAnachronism - Sword 161 The only pre-Columbian weapon I can find that was similar to a sword was the macuahuitl which was made with a plank of wood similar in shape to a cricket bat with obsidian blades mounted on the edges. It is similar enough to a sword that it is often referred to as the Aztec sword. However, the macuahuitl does not seem to fit the Book of Mormon time frame. “Some groups of Central Mexico, principally in the transition between the Early and the Late Post-Classic, probably developed this weapon” (emphasis added, Dr. Marco Antonio Cervera Obregón, “The macuahuitl: an innovative weapon of the Late Post-Classic in Mesoamerica”, Arms & Armour, Vol.3, Nov. 2, 2006, p. 146, article from a research journal). The Post-Classic period is between 900 CE and the Spanish conquest. | |
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