Ether 6

Ether 6:1

1 And now I, Moroni, proceed to give the record of Jared and his brother.

The story of Jared and his brother was interrupted in Ether 4:1, and is only now beginning again. Moroni clearly understands that he has deviated from a simple relation of the record of Jared and his brother, so he explicitly marks the return to his source (although it may be a source from memory).

Ether 6:2

2 For it came to pass after the Lord had prepared the stones which the brother of Jared had carried up into the mount, the brother of Jared came down out of the mount, and he did put forth the stones into the vessels which were prepared, one in each end thereof; and behold, they did give light unto the vessels.

Ether 6:3

3 And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.

This is the ending of the story of the sixteen stones. It is not, however, the purpose of the story of the stones. The problem of light is an interesting one, but the reason for telling the story is not for the miracle of the stones, for God could have used any other miracle to light the vessels. The purpose was in the miracle of the revelation of the personal God. That is where the story spends time, and when that true miracle is ended, Moroni can be rather mundane about the installation of the shining stones in the vessels. This terse account is therefore interesting for what is not here. There is no acclamation over the miraculous stones. There is no wonder by Jared that they should work. They simply do their job. For Moroni, this was not a story of stones, but of the finger of God and the great faith of the brother of Jared.

Ether 6:4

4 And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them—and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God.

The story again intentionally parallels Noah’s ark. The people enter with animals that will also be preserved. They set off into the waters, trusting in God, as did Noah.

Ether 6:5

5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.

Ether 6:6

6 And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind.

The winds were required to physically create the conditions that moved the vessels toward the New World. They had no sails, so the wind-driven currents were the medium of force that moved them across the ocean.

Symbolic: The voyage was certainly physical, but carries with it symbolic connotations:

“Endowed with divine power, the brother of Jared was prepared to lead his people across the seas. They made their temporal affairs ready and "set forth into the sea." The "Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land" and "the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters" (Ether 6:4-5, 8). Hugh Nibley has chronicled many "ancient" accounts of tremendous winds during the fall of Babel (Lehi 177-78). In the ancient world, wind was often seen as Jehovah's "instrument in overcoming chaos (Gen. 1:2; 8:1), and in transporting a prophet (1 Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:16; cf. 2:11; Ezek. 8:3; 11:1)" (Scott 4:848).

Anciently, water was often symbolic of the primordial chaos, "when darkness was upon the face of the deep" (Gen. 1:2; Eliade, The Myth 59-60). The act of creation or organization occurred when "the Spirit of God moved upon the deep," and order and life came upon the chaos (Gen. 1:2). To pass through the waters symbolized death and renewal. The ordinance of baptism partially draws upon this symbolism. To baptize is to bury the natural man in the dissolutive primordial waters, and then to raise up, by God's Spirit, a new creature. As Paul puts it, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead" (Col. 2:12; see also Rom. 6:4).

In much the same symbolic fashion, to cross the waters or seas is to leave the old decadent world behind to receive the new pristine and promised land. In ancient lore, crossing the great waters evoked images of traveling through time or life and traversing from old to new worlds. Friedrich Weinreb points out that, "The passage through this world is very much like passing through water, hence . . . a passage through time. And lest we should be drowned in water and in time, God gave us the 'teba,' the 'word,' [Ark] which carries us like a ship through the water" (Weinreb 248). Just as the "Flood figures both the descent into the watery depths and baptism," so too would the Jaredite journey into the seas (Eliade, The Sacred 134). After all, the Jaredites were "buried in the depths of the sea" but "there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah" (Ether 6:6-7). Like Noah, these Jaredites left the old behind, pressing forward to a new land of promise. These historical stories may also typify the fact that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).” (Thomas R. Valetta. “Jared and His Brother.” Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., Fourth Nephi through Moroni: From Zion to Destruction [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1995], 317-8.)

Ether 6:7

7 And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters.

Although the barges worked as they were supposed to, the people inside nevertheless understood several times that the were completely submerged. During those times, in spite of the efficiency of their barges, they “did cry unto the Lord.” Without any means but divine propulsion, faith was certainly required to have the vessels land safely in their promised land.

Ether 6:8

8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind.

Ether 6:9

9 And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord.

There is an important sense in which it was faith that propelled these vessels forward. The Lord was their propulsion, but they continually exercised their faith in God to keep them safe, and to continue in their progress.

Ether 6:10

10 And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water.

We hear little of the journey. The parts that we hear are those that required faith. The construction of the vessels required faith in the Lord. The light in the vessels required faith. The movement to the New World itself was an act of faith. The only events we hear of are those related to the exercise of faith.

Ether 6:11

11 And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.

The time of the journey is one of the reasons Allen gives for preferring the Pacific crossing for the Jaredites. He notes:

“The Book of Ether reports that the Jaredites took 344 days, almost one year, to travel from the point of departure to the Promised Land. If the Jaredites left from the Atlantic side, near Morocco, they would have traveled in circles for 8 or 9 months. Thor Heyerdahl made the trip on a raft from morocco to the Caribbean in two months. The scripture says, “…the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land…” (Ether 6:8) We would not expect the Jaredites to travel in circles. The distance from the Pacific by China to the gulf of Tehuantepec is Mesoamerica is more than twice the Atlantic’s crossing distance, thus placing us closer to the required time for the Jaredites to travel from the Old to the New World.” (Joseph L. Allen. Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon. S. A. Publishers, Inc. 1989, p. 260.)

Certainly when stated in that way, it makes it appear that there is way too much time required for an Atlantic crossing. There are two important points that Allen misses, however. The first is that they simply could not have carried enough food and fresh water for themselves and their livestock. A journey of nearly a year would force them to land somewhere to restock. Since the last time they temporarily stopped it was for four years, we cannot assume that their stops to replenish supplies would have been short. Had the Jaredites gone the Pacific route, they would have needed to stop, and that would have added to the required travel time.

The second point is that while Allen is correct in citing Ether 6:8, he does not cite all of the important information in that verse. What we really need to know is that “the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters” (italics added). Allen is presuming a continuous journey with no stopping. The text actually says that the winds blew while they were upon the waters, allowing for at least one time when they could stop for provisions. Of course we do not know where they stopped, nor for how long. However, stopping for provisions could easily add the extra time of travel.

Ether 6:12

12 And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them.

Ether 6:13

13 And it came to pass that they went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the earth.

There is very little information here for the historian. The description is almost formulaic. They arrive, give thanks, and settle in. All of this is true, but none of it tells us the kind of information we would love to have concerning the initial arrival into a very new world to them.

Ether 6:14

14 And Jared had four sons; and they were called Jacom, and Gilgah, and Mahah, and Orihah.

Ether 6:15

15 And the brother of Jared also begat sons and daughters.

Ether 6:16

16 And the friends of Jared and his brother were in number about twenty and two souls; and they also begat sons and daughters before they came to the promised land; and therefore they began to be many.

These verses give us some idea of the size of the Jaredite party. There appear to be forty-four adults. The males would be the twenty two counted souls (plus Jared and the brother of Jared), and each would likely have a wife. Prior to the departure for the New World, they had sons and daughters. Some would have been born prior to leaving the Tower area, and some probably born in the four years in the wilderness. The brother of Jared has twelve children. If we assume that this is accurate, and perhaps typical, then we might also postulate that many of the men had more than one wife (although the numbers are suggestive that something else might be going on. See comments after verse 20 below. Note also that the count of twelve children for the brother of Jared comes after some time in the New World). Taking this information to give us a probable maximum number, we would have twenty-for adult males, perhaps forty-eight adult females, and two hundred and eighty eight children. The total party would have a probable maximum of 360 people after arriving on the shores of the New World. That would constitute a reasonably large hamlet. These numbers, however, should be considered a maximum, and the actual party was probably less. For instance, it would be unlikely that every one of the twenty four adult males was able to afford or socially qualify for more than one wife, and that would reduce both the number of adults and the number of children. The high number of twelve children also comes from a count after they have been in the New World, so it would plausibly include children born after the transoceanic voyage.

Geography: An Atlantic crossing as proposed here would suggest a landing on the Gulf of Mexico. This is the location suggested by Hunter and Ferguson, who placed the landing near the Panuco River (Milton R. Hunter and Thomas Stuart Ferguson. Ancient America and the Book of Mormon. Kolob Book Company, 1950, p. 33-34). There are two reasons for seeing this general region as the landing place of the Jaredites. This is the homeland of the Olmec civilization, in which the Jaredites appear to have participated. The second reason, and one emphasized by Hunter and Ferguson, is that Mesoamerican legends have the Panuco as an origin place of some of the first peoples (Milton R. Hunter and Thomas Stuart Ferguson. Ancient America and the Book of Mormon. Kolob Book Company, 1950, p. 33-34). While there is some strength in the first argument, this second one is built upon a shallow reading of the historical documents, and should be discarded as evidence. All of the materials related to the Panuco origin stories are for peoples much later than the Olmec or the Jaredites.

While John L. Sorenson does not weigh in on a landing place (he simply notes that they land on the shore of the land northward, see John L. Sorenson. Mormon’s Map. FARMS, 2000, p. 22), he nevertheless places Jaredite lands firmly in Olmec territory, and associates the Jaredites with the Olmec (see John L. Sorenson. An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. FARMS, 1985, pp. 108-121). Nevertheless, he also includes information on a Pacific crossing, so he appears to support that position, having the Jaredites land on the Pacific coast and then travel across the land to the Gulf Coast (John L. Sorenson. An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. FARMS, 1985, pp. 110-11).

Regardless of the landing place, the geographic correlation between the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerica clearly points to the Gulf Coast region and the culture area of the Olmec as the Jaredite homeland.

Their first requirement was to til the earth, so they would likely stay in some area fairly close to each other, but spread out along the land so that they would have land to farm. As with the early years of the Nephites, nothing is said of meeting others in the land when they arrive.

History: As with the Lehites, when the Jaredites arrive in the New World they cannot find a land devoid of other human population. Archaeology is rather firm in its understanding that there were people in the Gulf Coast region by at least 2200 B.C., and that they are genetically related to the Asian immigration, not a Middle Eastern genetic heritage. (Richard A. Diehl and Michael D. Coe. “Olmec Archaeology.” The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership. The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1996, p. 11-12). The earliest settlements in this region are found along the now silted in stream called Rio Bari, near La Venta, Tabasco. From this beginning:

“Similar villages occurred along all the river valleys of the Olmec heartland in the following centuries. Although they appear to lack the monumental art and architecture, social hierarchies, and complex institutions that characterize Olmec culture, these villages clearly provided the local population base for later Olmec expansion. By the end of the Pre-Olmec period, San Lorenzo and La Venta were growing faster than other communities and fragments of basalt monuments in some of the deepest levels at San Lorenzo suggest that the Olmec sculptural tradition existed prior to 1200 B.C.” (Richard A. Diehl and Michael D. Coe. “Olmec Archaeology.” The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership. The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1996, p.12).

By the time of the close of the Olmec period, this cultural system had become influential over a very wide area of Mesoamerica, and fed foundational cultural and religious ideas to the later Mesoamerican civilizations. Nevertheless, this culture that we consider Olmec probably never thought of themselves as a single ethnic population. (Richard A. Diehl and Michael D. Coe. “Olmec Archaeology.” The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership. The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1996, p.11).

The connections between the Olmec and the Jaredites are completely circumstantial, but compelling within the larger scope of a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon. The Olmec culture flourishes and supports hierarchical societies with kings during the timeframe when the Jaredite record indicates that similar social institutions were among the Jaredites. The location of the Olmec lands is precisely in the appropriate geographic proximity to the plausible Nephite lands. The plausible linguistic and cultural connections of the people of Zarahemla also fit into the known archaeological and linguistic history of the area. This should not, however, be said to equate the Jaredites and the Olmec. There is an important distinction between saying that the Jaredites participated in Olmec culture and saying that the Olmec were the Jaredites. There is no indication of either a biological or cultural infusion from the Middle East. The Olmec culture is native to Mesoamerican soil. As with the later Lehites, the Jaredites would have been absorbed into the developing local culture, and their genetic contribution would have been early overwhelmed by the larger population into which they merged.

Ether 6:17

17 And they were taught to walk humbly before the Lord; and they were also taught from on high.

Ether 6:18

18 And it came to pass that they began to spread upon the face of the land, and to multiply and to till the earth; and they did wax strong in the land.

These two verses belong together. In Moroni’s mind, the prospering and multiplying in the land is directly related to walking humbly before the Lord. This is a promised land, and the promise that is attached to the land is that those who inherit it will prosper if they obey the Lord. The fact that the Jaredites prosper is therefore witness to their righteous walk before the Lord.

Ether 6:19

19 And the brother of Jared began to be old, and saw that he must soon go down to the grave; wherefore he said unto Jared: Let us gather together our people that we may number them, that we may know of them what they will desire of us before we go down to our graves.

Ether 6:20

20 And accordingly the people were gathered together. Now the number of the sons and the daughters of the brother of Jared were twenty and two souls; and the number of sons and daughters of Jared were twelve, he having four sons.

The numbering of the people is some form of a census. It is interesting that a census would be taken at all. When Benjamin has a census later in Book of Mormon history, he is dealing with a combined population of Nephites and Zarahemlaites that has had significant defections to the Lamanites. There is excellent reason from a political standpoint to take a census, as it would be difficult to know how many people were actually beholding to the Zarahemla polity.

In the case of the Jaredites, the counting suggests that strongly that a similar mixing and enlargement of population has occurred. If there are only twenty four original adult males and their offspring, we have a limited number of men who must only keep track of their grandchildren (and perhaps an odd great-grandchild). This is not a large number, and it would be rather simple for the twenty four grandfathers to gather and add up their progeny. The very fact of the count tells us that something else has happened. As with Benjamin, circumstances have occurred which make it difficult to assess the numbers of people who are now beholding to the Jaredite polity. The easiest and most logical way to explain the census is the infusion of “others” who were already living in the area when the Jaredites arrived. As with the Nephites, there was something about the Jaredites that gave them priority or reign, but we should not equate that with cultural dominance. In a very a parallel way to the Lehites, the Jaredites also had to learn the new area, new plants, new planting methods, and new fauna. They were as dependent upon those who had already figured out how to live in the land as were the later Lehites.

Symbolic: The numbers present in the original party of the Jaredites fall into categories that are too neat to be readily accepted as actual counts. We have the number of adult males as 24, or 2x12. Jared had 4 sons, but the total number of children is 12. These are all numbers that are important in either the Biblical heritage or the Mesoamerican heritage (12 from the Old World and 4 in the New). With the only numbers of people showing as such symbolic numbers we should be cautious in assigning specific historical veracity to the them. We can be comfortable in the relatively small nature of the founding Jaredite population, but these particular numbers may tell us more of the subsequent conceptions of numerical symbology among the recorders of the tradition than any real count of the Jaredites.

Ether 6:21

21 And it came to pass that they did number their people; and after that they had numbered them, they did desire of them the things which they would that they should do before they went down to their graves.

Ether 6:22

22 And it came to pass that the people desired of them that they should anoint one of their sons to be a king over them.

Cultural: Here is the next indication that the population is larger than twenty four adult males. As with the early Nephites, the Jaredites establish a king early in their history, earlier than the slow process of generational population expansion would create a population base that could support a king, regardless of the nature of that king.

Given a plausible Jaredite immigration timeframe of between 1600-1700 B.C., it is quite likely that the establishment of kings in the second generation is somewhat of an exaggeration of the nature of leadership. Certainly an inherited ruling line was established, but the archaeological history of Mesoamerica does not see strong development of kings until about 1200 B.C. The Jaredites could easily be precocious in establishing some form of hierarchical cultural system, and indeed the greater stratification of society is known from at least 1500 B.C. onward. It is plausible, however, that what we have in Ether’s record (and it is important to stress that it is Ether’s record) is a backwards understanding the kingship of the Jaredites being attached to the earliest founding fathers. There has certainly been enough time passed by the time Ether writes to have had history reconstruct itself in this manner.

Ether 6:23

23 And now behold, this was grievous unto them. And the brother of Jared said unto them: Surely this thing leadeth into captivity.

This sentiment is so close to that given my Mosiah II in Mosiah 29 that we must consider whether the sentiment was original to Ether’s record, or influence by Moroni’s interpretation of the events. Since we know that Moroni is telling the tale rather than recounting it verbatim (and again, possibly from memory) there is ample opportunity for Moroni to massage the text into “better” parallels with the Nephite history. For an ancient historian such as Moroni, this would not be seen as misrepresenting history, but rather as truly representing the cyclical nature of history.

Ether 6:24

24 But Jared said unto his brother: Suffer them that they may have a king. And therefore he said unto them: Choose ye out from among our sons a king, even whom ye will.

Ether 6:25

25 And it came to pass that they chose even the firstborn of the brother of Jared; and his name was Pagag. And it came to pass that he refused and would not be their king. And the people would that his father should constrain him, but his father would not; and he commanded them that they should constrain no man to be their king.

Ether 6:26

26 And it came to pass that they chose all the brothers of Pagag, and they would not.

Ether 6:27

27 And it came to pass that neither would the sons of Jared, even all save it were one; and Orihah was anointed to be king over the people.

The story of the reluctance of the sons of Jared again parallels the reluctance of the sons of Mosiah. In Moroni’s vision of the world, this would be a repetition of the very same pattern. The kings (and their attendant social hierarchy) were one of the ultimate reasons for the demise of the Nephites, and Moroni would have see the story of the Jaredites as similar. While it is possible that this information was clearly represented on Ether’s plates, it is also quite plausible that it has been manipulated into a form that makes it appear so remarkably parallel to the Mosiah story that Moroni clearly knew.

The main difference between the Mosiah story and the Jaredite story is that there was an obvious turning point in the nature of political leadership. This inheritance crisis among the Nephites led to the dissolution of the kingship, and the establishment of the reign of the judges. No matter what may have been parallel in the Jaredite story, the very clear history of the Jaredites involved kings. Moroni might be willing to massage history into its obvious (to him) parallels, but he does not violate the history by forcing a parallel that did not exist. This did establish kings among the Jaredites.

Ether 6:28

28 And he began to reign, and the people began to prosper; and they became exceedingly rich.

Ether 6:29

29 And it came to pass that Jared died, and his brother also.

Ether 6:30

30 And it came to pass that Orihah did walk humbly before the Lord, and did remember how great things the Lord had done for his father, and also taught his people how great things the Lord had done for their fathers.

Orihah is successful because he follows the promise of the land. He “did walk humbly before the Lord,” and therefore “the people began to prosper, and they became exceedingly rich.” In the archaeological history, this is a little early to compare the Jaredite riches with the great Olmec cultures. Nevertheless, they could have easily become comparatively rich. The centralization of government over a reasonable population and work force has long been the historical means of improving the social conditions of that population. Kings arise because they are useful, not because people have nothing else to do with their time.

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