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Helaman 11 |
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Hel. 11:1 1 And now it came to pass in the seventy and second year of the reign of the judges that the contentions did increase, insomuch that there were wars throughout all the land among all the people of Nephi.
Hel. 10:18 18 And it came to pass that they would not hearken unto his words; and there began to be contentions, insomuch that they were divided against themselves and began to slay one another with the sword. Hel. 10:19 19 And thus ended the seventy and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. At the end of the previous chapter, which did end a chapter in Mormon’s plate text, we have the conclusion of a year in which contentions had begun. In the beginning of this chapter we have the beginning of the next year, and the mention of contention. Why were these two verses separated? The year marker is a convenient place for Mormon to break a narrative, and the rapidly approaching time of the Messiah’s gives Mormon increasing reason to make not of the time. The nature of this timeline is important to understand the events leading to the arrival of the Atoning Messiah. Apart from the convenience, however, the previous chapter was about the specific prophecy of Nephi and its aftermath as it related to Nephi himself. In this chapter, the focus is not on the prophet Nephi, but rather on the events themselves, the events that begin to fulfill the prophecies of destruction that were part of Nephi’s message.
2 And it was this secret band of robbers who did carry on this work of destruction and wickedness. And this war did last all that year; and in the seventy and third year it did also last.
This is a civil war, with the Gadianton philosophy on the one hand and the traditional Nephite gospel on the other. The civil war has erupted out of long-standing differences, and with the shift in the statistical majority of people to favor the changes, the violence not only turns against the people of the gospel, but begins to succeed against them. What is important for Mormon is that we associate the name Gadianton with this movement. Regardless of its origin, for Mormon it is entitled “Gadianton.” Even though this particular reign of Gadiantons has no discernible connection to the small band of Gadiantons from Nephi’s father’s day, nevertheless for Mormon it is important to see them as a continuation. For Mormon, the enemy is no longer called Nephite. It is called Gadianton. It is no longer in some other city. It is within the heart of Nephite lands.
3 And it came to pass that in this year Nephi did cry unto the Lord, saying: Hel. 11:4 4 O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee. Hel. 11:5 5 And so it was done, according to the words of Nephi. And there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi. And thus in the seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword but became sore by famine.
In the ancient world all food was produced locally. When an army marched, they were called up out of the fields, and there were fewer people to till. There were also more mouths to feed that were not growing food. The longer an army was actively in the field, the longer the rest of the people were required to produce more than their needs, or do with less, in order to feed the army. When a famine came, there wasn’t extra food, and all were needed to till the ground to simply support themselves. The famine caused the warring to end because there wasn’t food necessary to sustain war. Mormon tells us that not only was there not enough to sustain war, there was hardly enough at all. This was a severe famine. Many centuries later, famine played a role again in reducing the ability of a people to engage in war. One of the factors aiding the Spanish conquest of the Yucatan was a drought-enduced famine that killed large numbers of people (Diego de Landa. Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan. Editorial Porrua, Mexico, 1973, p. 25).
6 And this work of destruction did also continue in the seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was dry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land.
7 And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to remember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi.
8 And the people began to plead with their chief judges and their leaders, that they would say unto Nephi: Behold, we know that thou art a man of God, and therefore cry unto the Lord our God that he turn away from us this famine, lest all the words which thou hast spoken concerning our destruction be fulfilled.
9 And it came to pass that the judges did say unto Nephi, according to the words which had been desired. And it came to pass that when Nephi saw that the people had repented and did humble themselves in sackcloth, he cried again unto the Lord, saying: Hel. 11:10 10 O Lord, behold this people repenteth; and they have swept away the band of Gadianton from amongst them insomuch that they have become extinct, and they have concealed their secret plans in the earth.
We have noted that there had been a shift in the statistical base of the population supporting the new reforms and new ways over a continuation of the old Nephite religion and law. This new reform was the program of the Gadiantons, and it had popular support. The voice of the people apparently removed Nephi from office as the chief judge, and sustained the Gadiantons during the increase in prosperity. As the famine continued, the people returned to their belief in the old religion, and readopted at least the understanding that Nephi was a prophet and he should be a leader of the people. Thus the voice of the people would have turned against the Gadiantons, and toward Nephi and the gospel. Just has the voice of the people had removed Nephi, it appears to have removed the Gadiantons. We do not know how the total elimination of the Gadiantons was effected. Perhaps they were exiled. Perhaps they were executed for crimes in the civil war. In any case, what we appear to have at this point is a people who have purged the Gadiantons and their program from out of their midst, and have returned to the gospel. It is also important to note that Mormon makes certain that the Gadiantons are not irretrievably gone. They bury the essence of who they are in the ground so that it may be found again. In the Mesoamerican world there is a long tradition of burying things in the ground that are considered sacred or an offering to the gods. Perhaps something of the Gadiantons was involved with these foreign gods, and therefore they buried something as an offering. Regardless of what it might have actually been, for Mormon the reality of the action is less important that the symbolism of the action. Mormon mentions the burying in the ground not for the burying, but for the finding again. This will become important in the resurrection of the Gadiantons in verse 26 of this chapter. When we next find the Gadiantons we find them beginning life as a band in the hills. It would appear from this evidence that the true fate of the Gadiantons was exile. Perhaps it was more a flight for their lives. In any case, the explanation of the next arising of the Gadiantons would be that they constituted the remnant of these ruling Gadiantons who were removed from power.
11 Now, O Lord, because of this their humility wilt thou turn away thine anger, and let thine anger be appeased in the destruction of those wicked men whom thou hast already destroyed. Hel. 11:12 12 O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, yea, thy fierce anger, and cause that this famine may cease in this land.
13 O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth rain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain. Hel. 11:14 14 O Lord, thou didst hearken unto my words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou saidst that: If this people repent I will spare them. Hel. 11:15 15 Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them. Hel. 11:16 16 And now, O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, and try again if they will serve thee? And if so, O Lord, thou canst bless them according to thy words which thou hast said.
17 And it came to pass that in the seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that rain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain.
18 And behold, the people did rejoice and glorify God, and the whole face of the land was filled with rejoicing; and they did no more seek to destroy Nephi, but they did esteem him as a great prophet, and a man of God, having great power and authority given unto him from God.
The result of this economic disaster and subsequent recovery was to force the Gadiantons out of Nephite rule. As we will see, however, it did not force unanimity of opinion among the Nephites. The changes brought on by desperation may have changed the people’s perception of pragmatic belief, but their fundamental tendencies to division would return.
19 And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a whit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness.
20 And thus it did come to pass that the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to build up their waste places, and began to multiply and spread, even until they did cover the whole face of the land, both on the northward and on the southward, from the sea west to the sea east.
21 And it came to pass that the seventy and sixth year did end in peace. And the seventy and seventh year began in peace; and the church did spread throughout the face of all the land; and the more part of the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, did belong to the church; and they did have exceedingly great peace in the land; and thus ended the seventy and seventh year.
22 And also they had peace in the seventy and eighth year, save it were a few contentions concerning the points of doctrine which had been laid down by the prophets.
23 And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year.
The key to doctrinal debate is the very key Mormon gives us. Revelation is the answer. These things come from God, and he knows the resolution to the issue. He will tell his prophets, and they will tell us. We may know how to resolve an issue only when God gives us the answer from his perspective. Until then, we are using our might to tell God what the answer ought to be. When Nephi, Lehi, and their brethren taught, the knowledge from God was available. As always, however, it was available through men, and because they were men, other men could dismiss them. Even with the great power of men such as Nephi and Lehi, men are able to see only the humanity and miss the truth of God that they teach. Thus the contentions arise, thus the truth was taught, but the dissentions will continue.
24 And it came to pass that in the eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were a certain number of the dissenters from the people of Nephi, who had some years before gone over unto the Lamanites, and taken upon themselves the name of Lamanites, and also a certain number who were real descendants of the Lamanites, being stirred up to anger by them, or by those dissenters, therefore they commenced a war with their brethren. Hel. 11:25 25 And they did commit murder and plunder; and then they would retreat back into the mountains, and into the wilderness and secret places, hiding themselves that they could not be discovered, receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them. Hel. 11:26 26 And thus in time, yea, even in the space of not many years, they became an exceedingly great band of robbers; and they did search out all the secret plans of Gadianton; and thus they became robbers of Gadianton.
First there is a continued connection from the Nephites. While there may be Lamanites in the Gadianton band, there are also disaffected Nephites who had left the land. One of the important traits of the Gadiantons is always the connection, or the connectability, to the Nephites themselves. For Mormon, part of the pain of the Gadianton problem is precisely that it comes from within the Nephite people. Either they are directly supporting it, as they did with the immediately previous Gadiantons who ruled in the Zarahemla, or they are supplying the Gadiantons with followers from among the disaffected Nephites. Next, the catalogue of the Gadiantons returns. Whenever we see them, we see the same basic set of “murder and plunder” that we find in verse 25. When the Gadiantons were in power in Zarahemla, the murders were political and the plundering was most probably a form of military exercise to create tribute cities. This new band of Gadiantons is not yet a full-fledged city, but it appears to be becoming one. Mormon appears to be describing the process of the establishment of a new city in the mountains. It is created by those who were once Nephites but have dissented, and by Lamanites. This tells us that the politico-religious beliefs of the people are certainly not going to follow the Nephite tradition of politics or religion. In addition, however, Mormon notes that this new organization in the mountains seeks out the “secret plans of Gadianton, and thus they became robbers of Gadianton.” In previous incarnations the Gadiantons appear to represent a particular type of political influence, particularly evidenced when they were in power in Zarahemla. In Helaman 3 we saw Mormon making a connection between the Nephites and the land northward. That connection becomes important in Mormon’s reading of the Gadianton threat in his own day. While the Teotihuacán influence is not archaeologically known until a hundred or more years from this particular point in Mormon’s narrative, Mormon appears to be making connections between the Gadianton presence and some type of foreign element that is neither Nephite nor Lamanite, yet is supported by both. He also emphasizes the militaristic nature of this group through the emphasis on murders and plunderings that are associated with it. In that context it is important to note the type of effect that Teotihuacán had on the Maya area: “Crucially, it is in Teotihuacán art abroad, and specifically in the Maya area, that the themes of militarism and political order are at their most prominent. In a very real sense, information from the May opens a special vista on its great and influential contemporary, while supplying equally vital information about how the Maya viewed themselves. Evidence of the impact of Teotihuacán on the Maya can be established archaeologically from its art and iconography and, in recent years, also from hieroglyphic inscriptions. Each offers its own vie wand approach, but it is the role played by Teotihuacán in Maya art that is most conspicuous. It is important to note the lack of any true fusion between the two styles; it is quite clear that Teotihuacán motifs are always to be viewed as “foreign” and “alien.” (Simon Martin. “The Power in the West – The Maya and Teotihuacán.” Ed. Nikolai Grube. Maya. Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Konemann, Cologne, 2001, pp. 103-4). Even though the presence of Teotihucanos in the Maya are may be presciently anachronistic in this part of Mormon’s narrative, it nevertheless appears to be a particular connection that Mormon has made based on his own times, and projected backwards onto the struggles of the Nephites around the time of the birth of Christ. Whether or not there was Mormon’s implied foreign influence at this point in time, there is, in Mormon’s description of this band of Gadiantons, a rather interesting view into the foundation of a new city in the Mesoamerican world. The case of Dos Pilas provides an interesting parallel, even though it dates to over 650 years after the events Mormon is currently describing. “The emergence of the Dos Pilas polity is one of the rare cases in which an internal struggle - the kind of factional dispute within a kingdom that would normally leave no trace in the inscriptions - erupts into something more visible and enduring.” (Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Thames & Hudson, London, 2000, p. 56) The story of Dos Pilas appears to originate in the kind of internal factionalism that we have been seeing in Zarahemla. In the case of Dos Pilas, one of the Lords of Tikal leaves that city to form a new city, Dos Pilas. “In the wake of Tikal’s conquest in 562 a new lineage of uncertain legitimacy established itself at the city. Plausibly, B’alaj Chan K’awiil was of the same line, perhaps as a full Tikal king, ousted in a coup that brought a rival lineage to power.” (Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Thames & Hudson, London, 2000, p. 56-67) The rank of B’alaj Chan K’awiil and the plausible forced removal from power would also provide a parallel to the expulsion of the Gadiantons from Zarahemla. In the case of B’alaj Chan K’awiil, he makes an alliance with another powerful city-state (Calakmul, an enemy to Tikal) and then establishes a new city, Dos Pilas. With even greater significance for our understanding of Mormon’s narrative, one of the very next recorfded acts of B’alaj Chan K’awiil was a military attack on Tikal. The result of the attack was inconclusive, and the civil war between Tikal and Dos Pilas (with the help of Calakmul) continued for at least 20 years, still ending without a decisive defeat of either city. (Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube. Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens. Thames & Hudson, London, 2000, p. 57). Even with the separation of 650 years, the relationship of Tikal and Dos Pilas can provide an illustrative model for the political intrigues that Mormon appears to be describing. Overlaid on the base historical information is Mormon’s editorial insistence upon linking this process to the Gadianton robbers. Mormon’s label of “robbers” will cloud our vision of this band of Gadiantons, but the later descriptions of these Gadiantons suggests more in common with the Tikal-Dos Pilas story than with brigands.
27 Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people of Nephi, and also among the people of the Lamanites.
One piece of information that is of note is that these Gadiantons are causing destruction “also among the people of the Lamanites.” Even though there were Lamanites who were part of the group that founded the Gadiantons, Mormon is setting the Gadiantons apart as a separate conceptual unit from both Lamanite and Nephite. This will be compatible with Mormon’s later assertion that they are representative of a foreign element.
28 And it came to pass that it was expedient that there should be a stop put to this work of destruction; therefore they sent an army of strong men into the wilderness and upon the mountains to search out this band of robbers, and to destroy them. Hel. 11:29 29 But behold, it came to pass that in that same year they were driven back even into their own lands. And thus ended the eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.
30 And it came to pass in the commencement of the eighty and first year they did go forth again against this band of robbers, and did destroy many; and they were also visited with much destruction. Hel. 11:31 31 And they were again obliged to return out of the wilderness and out of the mountains unto their own lands, because of the exceeding greatness of the numbers of those robbers who infested the mountains and the wilderness.
The presence of agriculture requires permanence of residence. One cannot move planted fields from one place to another. The effect of Mormon’s information that there were large numbers of Gadiantons is to confirm to us that they must have a city. They must have an organization that can not only feed, but also defend, a large number of people. Such things require a high degree of social organization, and argues for an incipient city-state rather than a band of guerilla robbers.
32 And it came to pass that thus ended this year. And the robbers did still increase and wax strong, insomuch that they did defy the whole armies of the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites; and they did cause great fear to come unto the people upon all the face of the land. Hel. 11:33 33 Yea, for they did visit many parts of the land, and did do great destruction unto them; yea, did kill many, and did carry away others captive into the wilderness, yea, and more especially their women and their children.
34 Now this great evil, which came unto the people because of their iniquity, did stir them up again in remembrance of the Lord their God.
35 And thus ended the eighty and first year of the reign of the judges. Hel. 11:36 36 And in the eighty and second year they began again to forget the Lord their God. And in the eighty and third year they began to wax strong in iniquity. And in the eighty and fourth year they did not mend their ways.
37 And it came to pass in the eighty and fifth year they did wax stronger and stronger in their pride, and in their wickedness; and thus they were ripening again for destruction. Hel. 11:38 38 And thus ended the eighty and fifth year.
Textual: There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition. |
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by Brant Gardner. Copyright 2002 |
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