Circle Squared
A Textual Analysis of the Book of Mormon
Chapter 9: "I'm Not Your Buddy, Guy!"
Chapter Heading:
The Record of Zeniff--An account of his people, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time that they were delivered out of the hands of the Lamanites.
Comprising chapters 9 through 22.
Chapter Summary:
Zeniff leads a group from Zarahemla to possess the land of Lehi-Nephi--The Lamanite king permits them to inherit the land--There is war between the Lamanites and Zeniff’s people. About 200–187 B.C.
One of the most telling aspects of a made up story is elaborate tangents. For some, extraneous details incongruently added to a story seems to lend credibility to the claim. To me, it comes across as "trying too hard" to force a fabrication to sound real. The next several chapters detailing Zeniff's journey is just such an example.
From reading other chapters, we already know that Zeniff's group left Zarahemla in search of the land of Lehi-Nephi. But you would think that Zeniff would still include in his own record some description of their reasons for leaving. But all we get is that they want to go back the "land of their inheritance" which Lehi promised Nephi.
Zeniff spies on the Lamanites in order to discover their weaknesses so his army can destroy them. But he discovers that the Lamanites are not all bad, and he decides not to attack. This leads to infighting, resulting in several people being killed (over whether or not they should kill the other guys...). They return to Zarahemla to inform the relatives of those who died in the squabble, to find more people to go with them (I bet that was quite the sales pitch) and to gather more supplies.
Returning to the land of the Lamanites, Zeniff strikes a deal with the king of the Lamanites, thus allowing his people to live on the land of Lehi-Nephi. After Zeniff's people have repaired and built up the city of Lehi-Nephi, the king of the Lamanites surprises them with a tax. How very British of him.
We know from Limhi's conversations with Ammon that this tax is a great burden and by the time Ammon finds Limhi's people they are ready to flee. Well, isn't this a nicely wrapped metaphor illustrating the woes of permitting even the smallest amount of evil in your life. By showing compassion to people who believe differently than you, evil creeps into your life so subtlety that by the time you notice it, it's too late. Verses in the Book of Mormon such as these drive many believers to only associate with other believers. How isolating.
The rest of the chapter details a battle between the Lamanites and Zeniff's people. For you see, King George... I mean, the king of the Lamanites feared that Zeniff's people were growing too strong and that he might not be able to control them. So he very diplomatically stirs up the Lamanites to periodically harass Zeniff (meaning they would kill them).
After thirteen years of these petty skirmishes, a large group of Lamanites attacks and slaughters those living on the outskirts of Zeniff's land. At the end of this battle, 3043 Lamanites and 279 of Zeniff's people are killed. Zeniff attributes his success to his prayers to god. I would attribute it to his use of advanced weapons which did not exist in pre-columbian America, such as metal "swords and cimeters." Oh, and Joseph made it all up, so don't take the spread too seriously.
The whole concept that the Lamanites, who Zeniff describes as "lazy" and using his people to "glut themselves," would seek to periodically destroy Zeniff's people makes no sense to me. In several places in the Book of Mormon we are told that the Lamanites greatly out number the Nephtes. Zeniff's group was considerably smaller than the Nephites. Even if Zeniff's group reproduced as quickly as was possible in the Bronze Age, after only 13 years they would still pale in comparison to size of the Lamanites. What fear did the bloodthirsty Lamanites really have of Zeniff's break off Nephite farmers?
Furthermore, if the Lamanites really were super lazy and gluttonous, they would surely find other ways of enslaving Zeniff's people, rather than resorting to randomly attacking them. Separate them; jail them; hold them hostage; kidnap their children. There are plenty of diabolical ways to enslave a group of people without hindering their ability to produce goods for yourself (is it weird that I know this stuff? Sheesh...).
It seems obvious to me that Joseph is looking for any reason, no matter how convoluted and preposterous, to get the Lamanites and Nephites to fight. After all, without a gradual culmination of war, the whole narrative of the Book of Mormon fails. And if the Book of Mormon fails, how will Joseph convince 14 year old girls and women married to other men to marry him?