Ehter 14

Ether 14:1

1 And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people, in which, if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep it, behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land.

Ether 14:2

2 Wherefore every man did cleave unto that which was his own, with his hands, and would not borrow neither would he lend; and every man kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand, in the defense of his property and his own life and of his wives and children.

Redaction: We have seen that Moroni patterns the history of the Jaredites to emphasize the promise of the land. He is also patterning the history to highlight the theme that his father wove into the Nephite tale, that of the destruction by secret combinations. Those intentional patternings suggest that the appearance of these verses in the book of Ether is due as much, if not more, to Moroni than to the original text. When Mormon is describing the nearing end of the Nephites, he tells us:

Mormon 1:18

18 And these Gadianton robbers, who were among the Lamanites, did infest the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof began to hide up their treasures in the earth; and they became slippery, because the Lord had cursed the land, that they could not hold them, nor retain them again.

The slipperyness of the belongings has a very direct parallel to verses 1 and 2 of this chapter. What makes the correlation even more important is the relationship of this described condition to the presence of the “robbers.” In Mormon, we have the connection within the same verse. There are robbers, therefore there it is difficult to retain one’s treasures. In the case of Ether, the reference to the robbers is not in the same verse, but it is quite close. It is found at the end of the previous chapter:

Ether 13:26

26 And there were robbers, and in fine, all manner of wickedness upon all the face of the land.

However, the relationship is even closer than that when we remember that this chapter break is artificial, coming later than the 1830 edition. When Moroni wrote, they were only a few sentences apart in the same chapter.

The parallel presence of the robbers, and then the parallel presence of the difficulties in retaining one’s possessions is beyond coincidence. Since the theme is demonstrably first written in Mormon’s text, we must therefore suspect Moroni of replicating that pattern as he retells the story of the Jaredites. We cannot tell how much of this information was in the original plates of Ether. However, we may be assured that the close connection between the two situations (the end of the Nephites and the end of the Jaredites) is a conscious adaptation of the text as Moroni adapts the Jaredite material in his retelling.

Ether 14:3

3 And now, after the space of two years, and after the death of Shared, behold, there arose the brother of Shared and he gave battle unto Coriantumr, in which Coriantumr did beat him and did pursue him to the wilderness of Akish.

Ether 14:4

4 And it came to pass that the brother of Shared did give battle unto him in the wilderness of Akish; and the battle became exceedingly sore, and many thousands fell by the sword.

Ether 14:5

5 And it came to pass that Coriantumr did lay siege to the wilderness; and the brother of Shared did march forth out of the wilderness by night, and slew a part of the army of Coriantumr, as they were drunken.

Ether 14:6

6 And he came forth to the land of Moron, and placed himself upon the throne of Coriantumr.

Once again the kin-group continues the struggle. Shared’s brother continues the war. The important part of this sequence is that Coriantumr is in the field with his army. In the wilderness of Akish they apparently have an advantage over the army of the brother of Shared, and they lay siege to them. This indicates that the army of the brother of Shared is somehow hemmed it, and Coriantumr’s army believes that it can simply out wait them. However, there is a daring strike at night. The description is that they men of Coriantumr fell “as they were drunken.”

While this might be a metaphor, it may also be quite correct. Major initiatives were seldom launched at night because they were dangerous both in the terrain and in the change what one might not fight the right enemy. However, the brother of Shared’s army is in a desperate situation. They not only attack at night, but they do so suddenly. It appears that their goal is not to destroy the army, but rather to escape. They not only escape, but realize that Coriantumr has left Moron relatively unguarded. Therefore they have a fairly easy conquest, and the brother of Shared gains the throne of Moron.

Ether 14:7

7 And it came to pass that Coriantumr dwelt with his army in the wilderness for the space of two years, in which he did receive great strength to his army.

Ether 14:8

8 Now the brother of Shared, whose name was Gilead, also received great strength to his army, because of secret combinations.

After the shift of power, there is still a restocking of men. The political unrest is not resolved by attaining the throne. That goal only furthers the unrest in those who do not have it. Whatever the underlying causes of this war are, they run deeper than a simple question of control of the throne.

Ether 14:9

9 And it came to pass that his high priest murdered him as he sat upon his throne.

Ether 14:10

10 And it came to pass that one of the secret combinations murdered him in a secret pass, and obtained unto himself the kingdom; and his name was Lib; and Lib was a man of great stature, more than any other man among all the people.

We are not told whether or not there is a relationship between the high priest and the king, Gilead. It would not be surprising, as it was not unusual in the ancient world to have a king apportion important positions to his own kin. Given the intra-kin-group murders that have been part of Jaredite history, it is certainly plausible.

However, the high priest does not sit long on the throne. There was one who was part of the conspiracy who wanted the throne, and he kills the high priest to get it. We now begin the story of Lib, and man whose name appears in the Jaredite king-list from almost four hundred years earlier.

Ether 14:11

11 And it came to pass that in the first year of Lib, Coriantumr came up unto the land of Moron, and gave battle unto Lib.

Ether 14:12

12 And it came to pass that he fought with Lib, in which Lib did smite upon his arm that he was wounded; nevertheless, the army of Coriantumr did press forward upon Lib, that he fled to the borders upon the seashore.

Ether 14:13

13 And it came to pass that Coriantumr pursued him; and Lib gave battle unto him upon the seashore.

Ether 14:14

14 And it came to pass that Lib did smite the army of Coriantumr, that they fled again to the wilderness of Akish.

Coriantumr is engaged in another back and forth battle, just as he was with Shared. In this case, Lib retreats towards the seashore. This would probably be the Gulf Coast rather than the Pacific. The reason for this supposition is simply that the Gulf Coast was historically more under the sway of the Olmec than the Pacific, though the Pacific coast would become important in the post-Olmec, or Epi-Olmec times. With Lib’s back to the ocean, there was no retreat, and they fight their way to a temporary victory, forcing Coriantumr and his army into a retreat.

Cultural: Coriantumr receives wounds in the battles he fights, and both times they are with the leader of the opposing army. Shared wounds Coriantumr in the thigh (Ether 13:31) and here Lib wounds Coriantumr in the arm. Given that Coriantumr continues to fight, we might expect that the wound was in the shield arm, and that this tells us that both men were either right-handed, or both were left-handed. Of course statistics favor right-handed. The reason that this becomes probable is that when two men face each other, and both use the same weapon-arm, the shield-arm is directly in the way of the typical blows from the sword. Since the Mesoamerican sword was made for a slashing motion, rather than a stabbing motion, the greatest opportunity for being wounded would therefore be to the arm directly in front of the blow – or the shield-arm of a same-handed man.

Ether 14:15

15 And it came to pass that Lib did pursue him until he came to the plains of Agosh. And Coriantumr had taken all the people with him as he fled before Lib in that quarter of the land whither he fled.

Redaction: As Coriantumr flees he has “taken all the people with him.” This appears to be indicate that Coriantumr is moving more than his military. It would seem that the entire population is relocating. The reason for this is probably tied to the information in verse 17, where Shiz is killing non-combatants. In addition to being a serious problem, this is also a parallel to the final run of the Gadianton-infused Lamanite army against the Nephties. Once again, the parallels so tight enough to lead to a suspicion that Moroni is the cause of the parallel, rather than history itself. In Mormon’s day, the destructive type of warfare was an apparent new innovation, and one for which they were ill prepared. To have a similar war of total destruction at the end of the Jaredites at a much earlier period in history fits into the cyclical view of history, but it is highly probable that it was pushed into that cyclical representation.

Ether 14:16

16 And when he had come to the plains of Agosh he gave battle unto Lib, and he smote upon him until he died; nevertheless, the brother of Lib did come against Coriantumr in the stead thereof, and the battle became exceedingly sore, in the which Coriantumr fled again before the army of the brother of Lib.

Ether 14:17

17 Now the name of the brother of Lib was called Shiz. And it came to pass that Shiz pursued after Coriantumr, and he did overthrow many cities, and he did slay both women and children, and he did burn the cities.

Cultural: Again we have the combat between opposing leaders. In such occasions, it was typically assumed that once the leader was vanquished, the battle was over. In this case, the battle might have ended, but Moroni pushes the events to their eventual end by having Shiz enter the fray immediately. Whether in the same battle, or whether Shiz regathers for his attack, the result is the same. Shiz is now the assailant who is pushing Coriantumr.

Redaction: As noted above, this reference to the killing of women and children has parallels to the events that Moroni lived through at the end of the Nephites, and the presence of this information in the record of the Jaredites might be due to Moroni’s literary parallelism that he has introduced into the account.

Ether 14:18

18 And there went a fear of Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land—Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the earth before him!

Redaction: The success of any military leader might have this same effect upon the local populations. In this case, however, he is fighting with basically the same forces against the same forces. The difference appears to be the type of warfare that is being waged. This addition of a new and terrifying mode of warfare is precisely the same phenomenon that we saw at the end of the Nephite nation when a Nephite army that was seasoned in battle and victorious in their last confrontation with the Lamanites simply turn tail and run when they see the Gadianton-reinforced army in front of them (Mormon 2:3 and following commentary). Once again we have such a direct parallelism that it may be more related to literary form than actual history, although the underlying history of the confrontation was surely accurate.

Ether 14:19

19 And it came to pass that the people began to flock together in armies, throughout all the face of the land.

Ether 14:20

20 And they were divided; and a part of them fled to the army of Shiz, and a part of them fled to the army of Coriantumr.

The final pattern is the dual division of the people. Just as with the Nephites, there were two political foci. Among the Nephites it was the Nephite/Lamanite division. This time it is the Coriantumr/Shiz division. However, the nature of the Jaredite divisions was typically intra-familial, and so Moroni has yet another touchpoint of similarity between the Jaredite destruction and the Nephite destruction. Both are peoples who should be joined by familiar ties who are nevertheless warring.

Ether 14:21

21 And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been the scene of bloodshed and carnage, that the whole face of the land was covered with the bodies of the dead.

Ether 14:22

22 And so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women, and children strewed upon the face of the land, to become a prey to the worms of the flesh.

Ether 14:23

23 And the scent thereof went forth upon the face of the land, even upon all the face of the land; wherefore the people became troubled by day and by night, because of the scent thereof.

These conditions would exist in a battle that involved the movement of settlements along with the military. That is the hint we have of the movement of Coriantumr in verse 15. With the tactics of Shiz destroying the settle populations, there was no safety for stable populations. Therefore cities would be abandoned prior to the arrival of Shiz. The lack of local populations remaining in the area accounts for the inability of the bodies to be properly taken care of. The battle continues, and the populations are consistently under pressure. In other circumstances, local populations would remain to deal with the aftermath of the battle. Here they are not present, and the bodies of the dead simply lie on the ground.

Ether 14:24

24 Nevertheless, Shiz did not cease to pursue Coriantumr; for he had sworn to avenge himself upon Coriantumr of the blood of his brother, who had been slain, and the word of the Lord which came to Ether that Coriantumr should not fall by the sword.

Shiz has declared a blood feud with Coriantumr. Above and beyond the political ends of the war, there is a revenge factor in the battle with Coriantumr. It is more than political, it is personal, and this personal aspect will be the one that drives the armies to destruction.

Ether 14:25

25 And thus we see that the Lord did visit them in the fulness of his wrath, and their wickedness and abominations had prepared a way for their everlasting destruction.

Ether 14:26

26 And it came to pass that Shiz did pursue Coriantumr eastward, even to the borders by the seashore, and there he gave battle unto Shiz for the space of three days.

Ether 14:27

27 And so terrible was the destruction among the armies of Shiz that the people began to be frightened, and began to flee before the armies of Coriantumr; and they fled to the land of Corihor, and swept off the inhabitants before them, all them that would not join them.

Earlier in verse 18 we had the people wondering if any could stand before Shiz. Now that Coriantumr has blunted the most devasting aspect of his army, that of the devastation of the local populations (accomplished by moving the local populations away from danger, as in verse 15), Shiz is no longer as feared. Indeed, now it is Coriantumr’s army that is having devastating effect on the army of Shiz. Shiz is backed up against the seashore, but he escapes to the land of Corihor. Along the way, the same tactics of destruction are used. The local populations either forcibly join, or are eliminated.

Ether 14:28

28 And they pitched their tents in the valley of Corihor; and Coriantumr pitched his tents in the valley of Shurr. Now the valley of Shurr was near the hill Comnor; wherefore, Coriantumr did gather his armies together upon the hill Comnor, and did sound a trumpet unto the armies of Shiz to invite them forth to battle.

Ether 14:29

29 And it came to pass that they came forth, but were driven again; and they came the second time, and they were driven again the second time. And it came to pass that they came again the third time, and the battle became exceedingly sore.

In an event again hauntingly similar to the last stand of the Nephites, there is an arranged battle around a hill. In the Jaredite case, however, the result is different. The army on the hill took their advantage and beat back the other army, unlike the final decimation of the Nephites. In spite of the different outcome, it is certain that Moroni saw and understood a parallel between the two time periods.

Ether 14:30

30 And it came to pass that Shiz smote upon Coriantumr that he gave him many deep wounds; and Coriantumr, having lost his blood, fainted, and was carried away as though he were dead.

Ether 14:31

31 Now the loss of men, women and children on both sides was so great that Shiz commanded his people that they should not pursue the armies of Coriantumr; wherefore, they returned to their camp.

This great battle temporarily ends with the wounding of Coriantumr, again at the hands of his opponent. The movement of the populations along with the armies accounts for the presence of the women and children. For Coriantumr, we have the impression that the women and children are there for protection from Shiz and his armies. For Shiz, it appears that they have been conscripted into his army.

Textual: There is no chapter break in the 1830 edition.