Circle Squared
A Textual Analysis of the Book of Mormon
Chapter 7: "The A-Team"
Chapter Summary:
Ammon finds the land of Lehi-Nephi, where Limhi is king--Limhi’s people are in bondage to the Lamanites--Limhi recounts their history--A prophet (Abinadi) had testified that Christ is the God and Father of all things--Those who sow filthiness reap the whirlwind, and those who put their trust in the Lord will be delivered. About 121 B.C.
In the book of Omni we read that a group of nostalgic Nephites left the land of Zarahemla to go back to the land of Nephi (where Lehi landed his boat and his family first settled). At the time they left, the land of Nephi was overrun with Lamanites, who killed many of their group and forced them to retreat. After regrouping and increasing their numbers (what a recruitment pitch that must have been...), they set out again to the land of Nephi.
In this chapter, a few generations have passed since the second group left to reclaim the "land of their inheritance," which for some unknown reason is now referred to as the land of Lehi-Nephi. Pestered by the plight of his fellow countrymen ("they wearied him with their teasings"), Mosiah sends out an elite team of sixteen "strong men" to check on the adventurers.
The leader of the team is an especially strong man named Ammon. After wandering around for forty days, they come to a hill and "pitch their tents." Ammon takes three men with him to investigate the surrounding area. And they are captured by the king's guard. Dun dun dunnnn...
Ammon's smaller team of extra-elite Jewish Native American spies sit in prison for two days and are then brought before the king, who "permitted, or rather commanded, that they should answer the questions which he should ask them."
The phrase "permitted, or rather commanded" stands out to me. This is a literary device often used to add a slight emphasis to a word by presenting it as a correction. Is such nuance really necessary when space is limited and the writing process is cumbersome? The inclusion of this phrase, frankly, strikes me as an attempt by Joseph to sound eloquent at the expense of sounding authentic. In other words, Joseph is trying too hard.
The king, named Limhi, explains that his people came from Zarahemla a few generations ago. His people were led by a man named Zeniff, who was apparently the "strong and mighty man" mentioned in Omni. This is the second name we have been given in this chapter (the first being the land of Lehi-Nephi) which should have been included in previous chapters.
I'm sure some apologist somewhere has a perfectly reasonable sounding explanation for why we were not given these names before now, but to me, this kind of sloppy narration is indicative of a weak writer making it up as he goes. Keep in mind that the author here is supposed to be Mormon, who is abridging a larger record and adding his own commentary. So, either Mormon filled in basic details of relevant people and places--such as names--after multiple mentions without those details (which I find unlikely of a historian) or Joseph filled in gaps by embellishing his tall tale as he dictated it. Either way, this is just lazy writing.
Upon hearing that Limhi is a descendant of Zeniff (whose name Ammon apparently knew...), Ammon rejoices and explains that they are exactly the people his team of Nephite Power Rangers are looking for! After a big group hug, Limhi tells Ammon about the dire situation his people are in. You see, unlike the benevolent king Benjamin and his cookie-cutter son Mosiah, the Lamanites have put a heavy tax on Limhi's people. Interesting. I thought the modus operandi of the Lamanites was to kill all Nephites, not to govern and tax them.
Limhi explains further that he would rather have his people be slaves of the Nephites in Zarahemla than pay taxes to the Lamanites (seriously?), and asks Ammon to help his people escape the clutches of the oppressive Lamanites.
If the Lamanite tax was so burdensome, why didn't Limhi, or one of his predecessors, head back to Zarahemla? Why did they need to wait for some like Ammon to show up? Did they forget how to get back? The first group went back once, so surely they knew the way. Are we to believe that they would not have passed this information on to their children? This is absurd.
Limhi frees Ammon and his men and sends for the other Super Troopers still on the hill. They are all fed and allowed to rest. Limhi, much like Benjamin, sends out a decree that all his people should be gathered at the temple so he can make a grand announcement. When all are gathered, Limhi starts by imploring everyone to trust in god:
"19 Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them."
This is especially interesting to me. Limhi seems to know quite a bit about the Old Testament. But how could this be if his people have been without the brass plates for generations? I mean, they presumably can't remember how to get back to Zarahemla, but they know the stories of Abraham and Moses? It seems that the emphasis Nephi put on attaining the brass plates in order preserve their culture does not apply Limhi, despite being a descendant and heir of a "stiffnecked man" like Zeniff.
Despite his inexplicable knowledge of the bible story, which would indicate to me that Limhi is a "righteous" man, he admits that the tax burden is a punishment from god for their sins and the "over zealotry" of Zeniff. Limhi proceeds to detail the tax to his people:
"22 ...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."
Why? Surely, they would already know this. It is unnecessary. Furthermore, the fact that the Book of Mormon contains so many ill-favored references to taxation (Limhi gives half his goods to the Lamanites, righteous kings like Benjamin and Mosiah do not tax, etc.) is consistent with the idea that Joseph wrote aspects of his own culture in to this book.
Joseph was born in the early 1800s, just a couple of decades after the Revolutionary War. One of the main complaints of the colonialists was that the king of England taxed them unfairly. "No taxation without representation!" This is spot on for Limhi and his people.
Come on, Joe. First you try too hard to win us over with unnecessary eloquence and complex sentence structure and now there are blatant parallels to political attitudes in your own culture. Put a little effort in to it.
Limhi goes on to needlessly explain how wicked his predecessors have been. He also explains rather wordily that man is created in the image of god, and future-Jesus will take on the image of man.
Apparently Limhi learned all of these bible stories from an unnamed prophet (here we go again...) who was killed by the people for saying such things. This may offer an explanation, weak though it is, for Limhi's bible-savvy, but this raises another question in its place: how did this prophet know all of this?
If this prophet received this information through revelation, as I would expect an apologist to claim, then this also renders the brass plates unnecessary. So, which is it? Furthermore, if a prophet was killed by the people for saying these things, does this mean that Limhi is now in danger of an angry lynch-mob?
Limhi wraps up his super important speech by telling everyone that if they don't obey god they will be punished, but if they do obey god they will be rewarded:
"29 For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor 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 stumbling block before them."
"33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."
So much for the unconditional love of a benevolent god. So much for Mormons distancing themselves from the prosperity gospel.