Exodus and Limhi's People

The Exodus pattern is considered by biblical scholars to be one of the most important literary themes found in the Hebrew Bible.¹ Speaking of this theme, Ronald Hendel observes, “The Exodus from Egypt is a focal point of ancient Israelite religion. Virtually every kind of religious literature in the Hebrew Bible—prose narrative, liturgical poetry, didactic prose, and prophecy—celebrate the exodus as a foundational event. Israelite ritual, law, and ethics are often grounded in the precedent and memory of the exodus.” Latter-day Saint scholars have noted many examples of the Exodus pattern in the Book of Mormon as well, a characteristic that is consistent with the ancient Israelite background of the text.3 One significant example of this feature may be found in the account of King Limhi’s people in the Book of Mosiah.

Bondage

In the book of Genesis, the story is told of how Jacob and his sons emigrated to Egypt because of a famine (Genesis 46). While their relationship with their new host-country was initially favorable, the Egyptians ended up eventually enslaving the Israelites, making “their lives bitter with hard bondage in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field” (Exodus 1:13–14).

A similar story of bondage plays out among Limhi’s people. They journeyed from Zarahemla to re-inherit the land of Nephi. The land, however, was technically still under the control of a Lamanite king named Laman, with whom Zeniff (Limhi’s grandfather) had to enter a treaty in order to obtain it. Once again, the arrangement initially seemed favorable, but the Lamanites soon brought the Nephites into bondage. As Limhi explained to Ammon, “For behold, we are in bondage to the Lamanites, and are taxed with a tax which is grievous to be borne” (Mosiah 7:15). Limhi and his people were required to give one half of everything they possessed or produced to the Lamanites as regular tribute, “or our lives” (Mosiah 7:22).

Cry to God

Israelite bondage in Egypt became so oppressive that the children of Israel “cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage” (Exodus 2:23). After several devastating losses in battle against the Lamanites, Limhi and his people were similarly brought down to the very depths of humility. Mormon recounts that they “did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions” (Mosiah 21:14).

In this case, however, the Lord was “slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless, the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens” (Mosiah 21:15). Although deliverance did not occur for some time afterward, the Lord began to prosper them “by degrees” in which they “began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger” (Mosiah 21:16).

A Deliverer Is Sent

In both Exodus and the book of Mosiah, someone requested permission and was permitted to go and inquire about the status of their people. The Exodus account relates that in response to the cries of his people in Egypt, the Lord sent Moses to deliver them out of bondage (Exodus 3:7, 10). Moses then went to his father-in-law Jethro and asked permission to “return unto my brethren which are in Egypt and see whether they be yet alive” (Exodus 4:18).

Similarly, the people of Zarahemla wondered what had happened to the people who had gone up to the land of Nephi with Zeniff. In response to his peoples “teasings” (suggesting especially persistent or vexing requests⁵), King Mosiah gave permission to Ammon and fifteen others to go up to that land in order to determine what had happened to them (Mosiah 7:1–2).

A Covenant to Serve God and Be Obedient

In the Exodus account, Moses asked Pharoah to allow his people to go into the wilderness in order to serve and worship the Lord. The Lord commanded Moses that “when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain” (Exodus 3:12). This involved a sacred covenant of obedience to God (Exodus 24:3, 7). The account in the book of Mosiah says that after they had humbled themselves before God, King Limhi and his people “entered into a covenant with God to serve him and keep his commandments” (Mosiah 21:31–32).

Led Out of Bondage by Another Way

When the Israelites departed from Egypt, “God led not them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near”; rather, “God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea” (Exodus 13:17–18). Notably, when Gideon and Ammon led Limhi’s people out of the land of Lehi-Nephi, they too went a different way: “And they went round about the land of Shilom in the wilderness and bent their course towards the land of Zarahemla, being led by Ammon and his brethren” (Mosiah 22:11).

 

Flocks and Herds

The Exodus account says that when the children of Israel left Egypt, they took with them “flocks and herds, even very much cattle” (Exodus 12:38). Limhi’s people also departed “with their flocks and herds” (Mosiah 22:11).

Gold and Silver

The Exodus accounts says that when they went out from Egypt, the Israelites “borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment” (Exodus 12:35–36). Similarly, we are told that Limhi’s people “had taken all their gold, and silver, and their precious things” (Mosiah 22:12).

A Failed Pursuit by the Enemy

After the children of Israel departed from Egypt, “the Egyptians pursued and went after them” but the armies of Pharaoh were overthrown in the midst of the sea (Exodus 14:23, 27). When they realized that Limhi and his people had departed out of the land, the Lamanites unsuccessfully pursued after them for two days, after which they become lost in the wilderness (Mosiah 22:16).

Conclusion

In a number of ways, the deliverance of Limhi’s people in the book of Mosiah echoes the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, as recounted in the book of Exodus. The way the narrator of the account in Mosiah repeatedly draws out such connections is consistent with the ancient Israelite heritage of the Book of Mormon.

S. Kent Brown, “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” BYU Studies 30, no. 3 (Summer 1990): 111–126, reprinted in S. Kent Brown, From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: Literary and Historical Studies of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998), 75–98.

David R. Seely, “‘A Prophet Like Moses’: Deuteronomy 18:15–18 in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 360–374. 

Noel B. Reynolds, “The Israelite Background of Moses Typology in the Book of Mormon,” BYU Studies 44, no. 2 (2005): 5–23. 

Noel B. Reynolds, “Lehi as Moses,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9, no. 2 (2000): 26–35.

Terrrence L. Szink, “Nephi and the Exodus,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights You May Have Missed Before, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1991), 50–51.

Alan Goff, “Mourning, Consolation, and Repentance at Nahom,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights You May Have Missed Before, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1991), 92–99.

George S. Tate, “The Typology of the Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” in Literature of Belief: Sacred Scripture and Religious Experience, ed. Neal E. Lambert (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1981), 245–262.

BibleExodus 1:13–14Exodus 2:23Exodus 3:7Exodus 3:10Exodus 3:12Exodus 4:18Exodus 12:35–36Exodus 12:38Exodus 13:17–18Exodus 14:23Exodus 14:27Exodus 24:3Exodus 24:7Book of MormonMosiah 7:1–2Mosiah 7:15Mosiah 21:14Mosiah 21:15Mosiah 21:16Mosiah 21:31–32Mosiah 22:11Mosiah 22:12Mosiah 22:15Mosiah 22:16

Bible

Exodus 1:13–14

Exodus 2:23

Exodus 3:7

Exodus 3:10

Exodus 3:12

Exodus 4:18

Exodus 12:35–36

Exodus 12:38

Exodus 13:17–18

Exodus 14:23

Exodus 14:27

Exodus 24:3

Exodus 24:7

Book of Mormon

Mosiah 7:1–2

Mosiah 7:15

Mosiah 21:14

Mosiah 21:15

Mosiah 21:16

Mosiah 21:31–32

Mosiah 22:11

Mosiah 22:12

Mosiah 22:15

Mosiah 22:16