Ether 9

Ether 9

Secret Combinations Begin Destruction

Ether 9:1–2

1 And now I, Moroni, proceed with my record. Therefore, behold, it came to pass that because of the secret combinations of Akish and his friends, behold, they did overthrow the kingdom of Omer.

2 Nevertheless, the Lord was merciful unto Omer, and also to his sons and to his daughters who did not seek his destruction.

Comments

In Ether 2:13, Moroni says: “And now I proceed with my record.” That statement followed several verses that he had interjected into the text to underscore something he wanted his readership to understand. We see it again in verse 1 of this chapter, and for the same reason. Moroni will repeat it in Ether 13:1.

Mormon did the same thing when he returned to a story that he had diverged from; it was not always after an inserted moral lesson, but after a different story had been told. Mormon’s language was “I [or we] return to the account” (see Alma 22:1, 22:35; Helaman 3:17).

We are now returned to the story of the secret combination to overthrow Omer. It was successful.

Ether 9:3–6

3 And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family.

4 And it came to pass that Jared was anointed king over the people, by the hand of wickedness; and he gave unto Akish his daughter to wife.

5 And it came to pass that Akish sought the life of his father-in-law; and he applied unto those whom he had sworn by the oath of the ancients, and they obtained the head of his father-in-law, as he sat upon his throne, giving audience to his people.

6 For so great had been the spreading of this wicked and secret society that it had corrupted the hearts of all the people; therefore Jared was murdered upon his throne, and Akish reigned in his stead.

Comments

There is a small wrinkle in the story of Omer’s overthrow. He is not kept captive. He and his family (save Jared, who had rebelled) traveled “many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed.” Having also passed Cumorah, they stop at Ablom, on the seashore. Moroni sees Omer as a righteous king fleeing along the same basic path as did the later Nephites.

The rest of the story continues to describe the evils of secret combinations. Secret combinations placed Jared on the throne, but Akish (the one who had made the oaths) was not satisfied. He did what later Gadianton secret combinations would do. He murdered Jared “as he sat upon his throne.”

Moroni lectured on the evils of secret societies at the end of chapter 8, and now he reiterates those evils. “So great had been the spreading of this wicked and secret society that it had corrupted the hearts of all the people.”

Ether 9:7–9

7 And it came to pass that Akish began to be jealous of his son, therefore he shut him up in prison, and kept him upon little or no food until he had suffered death.

8 And now the brother of him that suffered death, (and his name was Nimrah) was angry with his father because of that which his father had done unto his brother.

9 And it came to pass that Nimrah gathered together a small number of men, and fled out of the land, and came over and dwelt with Omer.

Comments

Jaredite patterns reassert themselves. Akish kills one son, and therefore angers another. Once again, political unrest will occur as a son turns against his father. That this son, Nimrah, was considered righteous is foreshadowed by having him flee to join with Omer, who was a righteous king before he was overthrown.

Ether 9:10–11

10 And it came to pass that Akish begat other sons, and they won the hearts of the people, notwithstanding they had sworn unto him to do all manner of iniquity according to that which he desired.

11 Now the people of Akish were desirous for gain, even as Akish was desirous for power; wherefore, the sons of Akish did offer them money, by which means they drew away the more part of the people after them.

Comments

By this point in the Book of Mormon, readers understand that when a people begin to desire gain and power that they are ripe for a fall. Mormon’s text elaborates that story over and over. We see it here in the briefest of statements, and with none of the textual hints that Mormon used to tell us that the fall was coming again. There is no “costly apparel” here. There is no neglect of the poor. We just see them desirous for gain and power. Nevertheless, the pattern will remain the same. They are ripe for destruction.

Omer’s Lineage Restored to Power

Ether 9:12–14

12 And there began to be a war between the sons of Akish and Akish, which lasted for the space of many years, yea, unto the destruction of nearly all the people of the kingdom, yea, even all, save it were thirty souls, and they who fled with the house of Omer.

13 Wherefore, Omer was restored again to the land of his inheritance.

14 And it came to pass that Omer began to be old; nevertheless, in his old age he begat Emer; and he anointed Emer to be king to reign in his stead.

Comments

In the now-common pattern, Akish’s sons rebel against him and he loses the kingdom. This time, however, there is so much destruction that Akish’s sons do not rule, but the kingdom is restored to Omer.

Omer “began to be old.” As with the typical pattern, after that statement, we have the anointing of a new king: Emer. Emer appears in the king list in Ether 1, but Jared and Akish do not, even though both ruled.

Ether 9:15

15 And after that he had anointed Emer to be king he saw peace in the land for the space of two years, and he died, having seen exceedingly many days, which were full of sorrow. And it came to pass that Emer did reign in his stead, and did fill the steps of his father.

Comments

Emer’s father, Omer, was considered a righteous king. Emer is considered righteous. The promise of the land was made to the founding father, Jared, just as it was later to Lehi₁. The people would prosper on principles of righteousness. Emer is righteous. His people prosper as the Lord took “the curse from off the land.”

Ether 9:16–20

16 And the Lord began again to take the curse from off the land, and the house of Emer did prosper exceedingly under the reign of Emer; and in the space of sixty and two years they had become exceedingly strong, insomuch that they became exceedingly rich—

17 Having all manner of fruit, and of grain, and of silks, and of fine linen, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things;

18 And also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man.

19 And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms.

20 And thus the Lord did pour out his blessings upon this land, which was choice above all other lands; and he commanded that whoso should possess the land should possess it unto the Lord, or they should be destroyed when they were ripened in iniquity; for upon such, saith the Lord: I will pour out the fulness of my wrath.

Comments

Verse 16 begins the description of what it meant for a Jaredite to “become exceedingly rich.” Verse 20 confirms that the reason is that they were living according to the commandments, and therefore Yahweh kept his part of the covenant and blessed them in the land.

Most of the definition of wealth concerns things that are required for a basic living. There was food, both of grains and of kept animals, “which were useful for the food of man.” There are also things above simple subsistence. They do have silks, linen, gold, silver, and other precious things.

Interestingly, they have animals called cureloms and cumoms. There is no indication what those animals might have been, save that they were apparently particularly useful. It is also not known why these animal names were transliterated, while the others were translated. It might be related to the fact that the original names might have been known in the Jaredite language, but not in the Nephite language into which Mosiah₂ translated.

Rebellion and Conflict Return

Ether 9:21–25

21 And Emer did execute judgment in righteousness all his days, and he begat many sons and daughters; and he begat Coriantum, and he anointed Coriantum to reign in his stead.

22 And after he had anointed Coriantum to reign in his stead he lived four years, and he saw peace in the land; yea, and he even saw the Son of Righteousness, and did rejoice and glory in his day; and he died in peace.

23 And it came to pass that Coriantum did walk in the steps of his father, and did build many mighty cities, and did administer that which was good unto his people in all his days. And it came to pass that he had no children even until he was exceedingly old.

24 And it came to pass that his wife died, being an hundred and two years old. And it came to pass that Coriantum took to wife, in his old age, a young maid, and begat sons and daughters; wherefore he lived until he was an hundred and forty and two years old.

25 And it came to pass that he begat Com, and Com reigned in his stead; and he reigned forty and nine years, and he begat Heth; and he also begat other sons and daughters.

Comments

The record returns to the sparse accounting for the generations. Emer was righteous, and begat Coriantum, who ruled (and who appears in the king list in Ether 1).

All continues to be good in Coriantum’s reign, and he begets Com, and Com begets Heth. There is apparently no rebellion, and therefore either the original text, or Moroni, has little to say about those years. It is likely that the original text was this sparse. Moroni fills out the information with moralistic insertions, but not elaborations of history. He didn’t have the information to do so.

The phrase in verse 22, “Son of Righteousness,” helps us determine that this is Moroni writing. He would have read his father’s work, and is referencing 3 Nephi 25:2, which is quoting Malachi. Both here and in 3 Nephi 25:2, the scribe wrote the homophone son, instead of sun, as it appears in Malachi.

The ages listed for Coriantumr and his first wife are difficult to reconcile with a reasonable life span in antiquity. It does appear that many of those listed would have lived to a reasonably old age, but a hundred and forty-two is beyond a reasonable old age. This suggests that there is some insertion of mythical numbers into the record that Ether used. Given the time when he lived, an exaggeration in the life of what was considered to be a righteous king would not have been surprising.

Ether 9:26–29

26 And the people had spread again over all the face of the land, and there began again to be an exceedingly great wickedness upon the face of the land, and Heth began to embrace the secret plans again of old, to destroy his father.

27 And it came to pass that he did dethrone his father, for he slew him with his own sword; and he did reign in his stead.

28 And there came prophets in the land again, crying repentance unto them—that they must prepare the way of the Lord or there should come a curse upon the face of the land; yea, even there should be a great famine, in which they should be destroyed if they did not repent.

29 But the people believed not the words of the prophets, but they cast them out; and some of them they cast into pits and left them to perish. And it came to pass that they did all these things according to the commandment of the king, Heth.

Comments

Even though there is a consistent pattern of sons rebelling against fathers, it was not the absolute pattern. In this case, Heth received the throne as his right, but as with the later king Noah of the Zeniffites, he turned from God.

In such times, God is not silent, but sends warnings through his prophets. In this time, however, the prophets are rejected and they are cast out. As with the Nephites, this turn to wickedness after righteous blessings will lead to a fall.

The Great Dearth

Ether 9:30–31

30 And it came to pass that there began to be a great dearth upon the land, and the inhabitants began to be destroyed exceedingly fast because of the dearth, for there was no rain upon the face of the earth.

31 And there came forth poisonous serpents also upon the face of the land, and did poison many people. And it came to pass that their flocks began to flee before the poisonous serpents, towards the land southward, which was called by the Nephites Zarahemla.

Comments

A drought occurs. There is no indication that this drought came because a prophet sealed up the heavens, as Nephi₂ later did in Nephite history. Nevertheless, the drought comes and disrupts life. One of the interesting aspects is that poisonous serpents appear. If the Book of Mormon took place in Central America, there are a number of poisonous serpents there. In the conditions of a drought, the serpents also need water, and therefore might come closer to human habitation looking for it. Thus, they are in greater contact, and have greater opportunity to endanger the human population.

Ether 9:32–35

32 And it came to pass that there were many of them which did perish by the way; nevertheless, there were some which fled into the land southward.

33 And it came to pass that the Lord did cause the serpents that they should pursue them no more, but that they should hedge up the way that the people could not pass, that whoso should attempt to pass might fall by the poisonous serpents.

34 And it came to pass that the people did follow the course of the beasts, and did devour the carcasses of them which fell by the way, until they had devoured them all. Now when the people saw that they must perish they began to repent of their iniquities and cry unto the Lord.

35 And it came to pass that when they had humbled themselves sufficiently before the Lord he did send rain upon the face of the earth; and the people began to revive again, and there began to be fruit in the north countries, and in all the countries round about. And the Lord did show forth his power unto them in preserving them from famine.

Comments

The effect of the drought is that there is some kind of migration to the south. In the Mesoamerican region, there is a movement of Zoquean speakers southward. There is next to nothing known of the reasons for that migration, but those movements southward are the plausible explanation for why the later Mulekites may have also followed those routes southward to arrive in Zarahemla after landing on a coast.

As with the drought in Nephi₂’s time, the people eventually turn to God, and God restores the rains.

This is not the end of a chapter in the 1830 edition.