Ether 11
Ether 11:1–3
1 And there came also in the days of Com many prophets, and prophesied of the destruction of that great people except they should repent, and turn unto the Lord, and forsake their murders and wickedness.
2 And it came to pass that the prophets were rejected by the people, and they fled unto Com for protection, for the people sought to destroy them.
3 And they prophesied unto Com many things; and he was blessed in all the remainder of his days.
Comments
This is the first time we see a disconnect between the righteousness of the king and the people. Typically, the king is given as the representative of all the people and therefore the cause of the people turning against God. Com is the exception. This chapter was not originally separated from the previous chapter in our current editions of the Book of Mormon, so the reason that there is such a disconnect can easily be lost if we select and read this chapter separately from the previous one.
In Ether 10:33–34, we learned: “And in the days of Com there began to be robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom. Now Com did fight against them much; nevertheless, he did not prevail against them.”
Com attempted to be righteous, but the secret combinations had begun to take hold of the people’s hearts. Thus, Com not only “did not prevail” against the robbers, but he similarly did not prevail against his own people’s turn to wickedness, as seen in their rejection of the prophets.
Ether 11:4–6
4 And he lived to a good old age, and begat Shiblom; and Shiblom reigned in his stead. And the brother of Shiblom rebelled against him, and there began to be an exceedingly great war in all the land.
5 And it came to pass that the brother of Shiblom caused that all the prophets who prophesied of the destruction of the people should be put to death;
6 And there was great calamity in all the land, for they had testified that a great curse should come upon the land, and also upon the people, and that there should be a great destruction among them, such an one as never had been upon the face of the earth, and their bones should become as heaps of earth upon the face of the land except they should repent of their wickedness.
Comments
Again, we see that the next king, Shiblom, is born late in the king’s life. Shiblom became king but had many older brothers who could have desired the power of the position. Once again, we see one of them rebelling against Shiblom.
Shiblom’s reaction differed from his father’s. Where the prophets came to Com for protection, Shiblom declares that they should be put to death. The text says that he “caused that all the prophets who prophesied of the destruction of the people should be put to death,” but it is hard to see that there would be a prophet at this time who had not been teaching that the penalty of not keeping the covenant of the land was to fall upon them. Those prophets had declared a great destruction, and in verse 4 we see that there is war in the land.
Ether 11:7
7 And they hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord, because of their wicked combinations; wherefore, there began to be wars and contentions in all the land, and also many famines and pestilences, insomuch that there was a great destruction, such an one as never had been known upon the face of the earth; and all this came to pass in the days of Shiblom.
Comments
Although it is certainly possible that this particular declaration was on the plates of Ether, it was either selected, or emphasized, because this is the principal lesson that Mormon had extracted from this document, and at least, a major theme that Moroni had highlighted. The people had become wicked and followed what are described here as “wicked combinations”, rather than secret combinations. Nevertheless, Moroni follows Mormon in seeing that the worst of the destructions among the Nephites were due to these wicked combinations that Moroni had specifically labeled as “robbers” in Ether 10:33.
Ether 11:8–11
8 And the people began to repent of their iniquity; and inasmuch as they did the Lord did have mercy on them.
9 And it came to pass that Shiblom was slain, and Seth was brought into captivity, and did dwell in captivity all his days.
10 And it came to pass that Ahah, his son, did obtain the kingdom; and he did reign over the people all his days. And he did do all manner of iniquity in his days, by which he did cause the shedding of much blood; and few were his days.
11 And Ethem, being a descendant of Ahah, did obtain the kingdom; and he also did do that which was wicked in his days.
Comments
The Jaredite story is moving rapidly to the end. As it does, it continues to give only an outline of the facts, without filling out too many details. For example, verse 9 introduces Seth, but without telling us who Seth is nor why he was brought into captivity. We learn that he is the son of Shiblom only in the genealogy (see Ether 1:11). As the son, and presumably the last-born son, Seth was to be the heir to the kingdom, but he was kept in captivity. In the end, Seth’s son Ahah, succeeds in rebellion and gains the throne.
As the story moves to the final destruction, we see Ahah doing “all manner of iniquity in his days,” and his son, Ethem, “also did do that which was wicked in his days.” The continued iniquity will invoke the cursing part of the covenant of the land. Ethem is Ether’s great-grandfather.
Ether 11:12–14
12 And it came to pass that in the days of Ethem there came many prophets, and prophesied again unto the people; yea, they did prophesy that the Lord would utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth except they repented of their iniquities.
13 And it came to pass that the people hardened their hearts, and would not hearken unto their words; and the prophets mourned and withdrew from among the people.
14 And it came to pass that Ethem did execute judgment in wickedness all his days; and he begat Moron. And it came to pass that Moron did reign in his stead; and Moron did that which was wicked before the Lord.
Comments
The Lord did not cease trying to recover his people, but they continued to refuse the prophets. Thus, not only Ethem, but his son Moron, continued to do “that which was wicked before the Lord.” The prophets that were rejected told of the utter destruction of the Jaredites. The prophets were ignored. The prophecy of destruction is now only two named sons (Coriantor and Ether) away from being fulfilled (see the genealogy list: Ether 1: 6–7).
Ether 11:15–18
15 And it came to pass that there arose a rebellion among the people, because of that secret combination which was built up to get power and gain; and there arose a mighty man among them in iniquity, and gave battle unto Moron, in which he did overthrow the half of the kingdom; and he did maintain the half of the kingdom for many years.
16 And it came to pass that Moron did overthrow him, and did obtain the kingdom again.
17 And it came to pass that there arose another mighty man; and he was a descendant of the brother of Jared.
18 And it came to pass that he did overthrow Moron and obtain the kingdom; wherefore, Moron dwelt in captivity all the remainder of his days; and he begat Coriantor.
Comments
These verses highlight the complex problem of tracing both kingship and genealogy among the Jaredites. It also suggests that the destruction of the Jaredites will be not only the model for the Nephite destruction, but also that the division between Nephites and Lamanites was also similar to an unexpressed political divide among the Jaredites. Unlike the Nephite record, we never hear of another people. We do hear that sons rebelled against fathers, and also that there are splits within the kingdom. The reality of their politics is that there must have been sufficient separation of some cities that a rebelling son could build up a power base.
In verse 17 we find that another outsider to the listed genealogy, another “mighty man,” overthrew and captured Moron. We don’t know this man’s—this king’s—name. The fact that he is a descendant of the brother of Jared confirms that Jared's line was not the only one to claim a right to rule. We cover this diversity because we call all these people Jaredites, a term that only appears once in the Book of Mormon, in Moroni 9:23. The fact that Moroni uses the name Jaredites does not mean that that is what they called themselves, or that there was even a unity of peoples. The history of Mesoamerica strongly suggests that there was no such overarching single government. We simply read it that way because we have only the story of one particular lineage.
Ether 11:19–23
19 And it came to pass that Coriantor dwelt in captivity all his days.
20 And in the days of Coriantor there also came many prophets, and prophesied of great and marvelous things, and cried repentance unto the people, and except they should repent the Lord God would execute judgment against them to their utter destruction;
21 And that the Lord God would send or bring forth another people to possess the land, by his power, after the manner by which he brought their fathers.
22 And they did reject all the words of the prophets, because of their secret society and wicked abominations.
23 And it came to pass that Coriantor begat Ether, and he died, having dwelt in captivity all his days.
Comments
Again, we have a royal lineage living and producing children while in captivity. Ether is the last of the line, and the one who compiled the source record which Mosiah2 translated, and Moroni told.
It is easiest to see these verses as Moroni’s summary. While the prediction of the destruction of the people is a common theme, the addition that there would come a different people to possess the land would be known to Moroni and would perhaps be of little interest to the people receiving the prophets. Since they, the people, didn’t believe the prophets that their own people would be destroyed, thinking that another people would come, it would not have been any more convincing. It was, however, fulfilled prophecy. Moroni clearly saw how that part of history fit into his own.
This is the end of a chapter in the 1830 edition.
