Jaredite Literature in the Book of Mormon

Jaredite Literature In The Book Of Mormon

By Elder E. Cecil McGavin

Author of “Mormonism and Masonry” and “Cumorah’s Gold Bible.”

AT the close of the Book of Mormon are forty pages of historical material about the Jaredites—that colony which came to America from the Tower of Babel This short abridgment was made by Moroni, the last of the Nephite historians. It is a fact worthy of emphasis that the Jaredite literature is free from all the Hebrew traits, the ornate style, and other literary embellishments, so popular in Jewish and Nephite scriptures.

It will be recalled that the Jaredites flourished upon the American continent for 1,600 years, coming from Babylonia about 2,200 B.C. This great nation was exterminted at the time the Nephites came to this land.

Literature, like all social, economic and political institutions, is of slow growth and invention. It is striking how primitive the atmosphere and settings are in the records of these early people. It required centuries of development before complex forms of literature evolved such as are preserved-in certain sections of the Bible.

Likewise, we should be suspicious if we found the literature of these early emigrants as polished and embellished as the writings of the Nephites who succeeded them and possessed the early books of the Old Testament to guide them in perfecting an advanced literary style.

This is a sample of Moroni’s characteristic. style which abounds in Hebrew traits, yet this polished style which characterizes his other writings is conspicuously absent from his abridgment of the book of Ether. He must have made a special effort to remain true to the original script, not feeling free to enlarge upon the simply-stated facts of the Jaredite historians as he would when recording the teachings of his father or expressing his own thoughts. He was so faithful to the ancient text that such transliterations as “cureloms,” “cumoms,” and “deseret” appear in his abridgment. It is not surprising that he should have been reluctant to depart far from the primitive text he was translating and abridging.

We must admit that Moroni’s personality and literary style would be reflected in his abridgment, though he tried hard to avoid it; yet the style of the book of Ether is far more unlike that of the rest of the Book of Mormon than the New Testament is unlike the Old.

The Jaredite names have not the slightest similarity to Nephite names. Such popular Nephite syllables as “ne,” “am,” “li,” “hi,” “oni,” and others were not used by the Jaredites. Furthermore, the historical material of the Jaredites is presented in a primitive, matter-of-fact style which has none of the Hebraic traits we have previously called attention to.

The subject matter of the two records is so different that it is difficult to find duplicate or parallel accounts for purposes of comparison, yet the following quotations will clarify this point: In the humble, unadorned literature of the Jaredites we read this verse, expressed in the characteristic manner of the book of Ether:

“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.”—Ether 10:33.

In contrast to this unpretentious manner of expression, let us read a text from a Nephite scribe in which the same subject is discussed:

“And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the foundation of all these things; yea, the foundation of murder, and works of darkness; yea; and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.”—II Nephi 26:22.

Concerning the fall of man, a Jaredite prophet expressed his thoughts in these humble words: “Because of the fall, our natures have become evil continually.”—Ether 3:2. But that same thought in the mind of a Nephite unfolds and grows into a sermon whose beauty and balance of construction and thought are as Hebraic as the book of Psalms:

“And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; …

“And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.”—Mormon 9:13, 14.

The spirit of the book of Ether is one of antiquity. The social and economic aspects of the Jaredites are of a primitive, rudimental nature, while their literature is in strict harmony with that ancient environment and setting.

The Jaredite armaments and methods of warfare are of the most primitive kinds. Their first skirmishes are described in the following terms: “They did give battle,” the enemy “did beat them and did slay Cohor,” “they did give battle unto him by night,” “and there began to be a war.”

By the time of their final battles, however, there is a marked evolution in their military equipment. When the warriors of the two mighty nations assembled in the vicinity of the hill Ramah, about six centuries before the birth of Christ, they are described as “being armed with weapons of war, having shields, and breastplates, and headplates, and being clothed after the manner of war.”—Ether 15:15.

Other accounts of this battle of extermination assert that “when the night came they had all fallen by the sword save it were Coriantumr and Shiz.” This simple, matter-of-fact style characterizes the book of Ether. The picturesque narrations of the Nephites are absent from this ancient literature. As a sample of how a Nephite historian described the preparations for war, and the actual struggle, we quote from Mormon 6:7-10:

“My people with their wives and their children did now behold the armies of Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them. … And every soul was filled with terror because of the greatness of their numbers.

“And it came to pass that they did fall upon my people with the sword, and with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the ax, and with all manner of weapons of war. And it came to pass that my men were hewn down … and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to moulder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.”

In these lines are to be seen the balance, repetition and other poetic qualities of the literary style of the Hebrews—all of which are absent from the writings of the Jaredites. In that primitive literature no attention is given to details and minor incidents which Nephite scribes accepted as an opportunity to make a strong emotional appeal and preach a sermon or breathe a prayer as their trained hands recorded scenes of terror and wretched despair.

Every verse in the book of Ether is a solemn witness that it is free from the Hebrew traits, names, practices and customs that embellish and enrich the records of the Nephites. The meagre touches of Hebrew style that may appear are traceable to the hand of Moroni who translated and abridged the record of those ancient people.

It is likewise significant that the chronicles of the Jaredites are free from such terms as Jerusalem, the Levites, the Melchizedek or Aaronic priesthood, Pharisees, the Temple, Tabernacle, and scores of other terms that were not in existence at the time this colony migrated from Babylonia.

Misinformed critics have prejudiced the public by their repeated falsehoods about the Book of Mormon. In 1844 one author said of the sameness of style that is to be found throughout its volume:

“The whole work is written in a miserable attempt to imitate the style of King James, the First, and the sameness is such from beginning to the end of the work, that no one can be left in doubt in identifying the whole with one individual author.”—James H. Hunt, “Mormonism,” p. 20.

The Book of Mormon is indeed a divine revelation, transcribed, preserved and finally translated by the gift and power of God. It meets every exacting test as no other book has done. Philosophies and theories of men have soon been discarded; text books, popular for a season, have soon been rejected and repudiated as new truths are uncovered, but this wonderful book, as it came before the world in 1830, continues to circulate in all the civilized nations of the earth. It was the first Mormon literature upon the press, yet after 111 years it continues to come from the press at the rate of more than 35,000 copies every year. To the scoffers who continue to revile this precious volume, we would say as a Nephite prophet said of old:

“O that cunning plan of the evil one, O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

“But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.”—II Nephi 9:28, 29.