KnoWhy #171 | August 27, 2020

Why Did Mormon Mention Hagoth?

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Scripture Central

"And it came to pass that they were never heard of more." Alma 63:8

The Know

At the conclusion of the extended conflict between the Nephites and the Lamanites, Mormon reported that a “large company of men, even to the amount of five thousand and four hundred men, with their wives and their children, departed out of the land of Zarahemla into the land which was northward” (Alma 63:4). 

Next, the reader learns that “an exceedingly curious” man named Hagoth “went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship” (Alma 63:5).1 “And behold, there were many of the Nephites who did enter therein and did sail forth with much provisions, and also many women and children; and they took their course northward” (v. 6). During the next year, Hagoth built even more ships, and when the first ship returned, “many more people did enter into it; and they also took much provisions, and set out again to the land northward” (v. 7). Exactly what type of ships Hagoth built is uncertain, except the description of his first ship being “exceedingly large” (v. 5).2

Mormon concluded his narrative about migrations on this somber note: 

And it came to pass that they were never heard of more. And we suppose that they were drowned in the depths of the sea. And it came to pass that one other ship also did sail forth; and whither she did go we know not. And it came to pass that in this year there were many people who went forth into the land northward. (Alma 63:8–9)

Imagined map of the Book of Mormon lands by Tyler Griffin, Taylor Halverson, and Seth Holladay, BYU.

A careful reading of these events shows that in the space of two years Mormon reported at least five notable migrations—three by sea, two by land,3 and all of them “northward.”4 Although brief, Mormon’s sampling of these migrations helps the reader catch a glimpse of an expanding Nephite civilization. While nothing is said further concerning the matter, Mormon’s mentioning that “Hagoth built even more ships” implies that further seafaring migrations may have been on the horizon.5

The Why

The uncertainty concerning the final destination of Hagoth’s voyagers (and potentially Hagoth himself, assuming he accompanied the second journey of his ship),6 has captured the attention of Book of Mormon readers for generations.7 Several LDS prophets and general authorities have believed Hagoth’s seafarers were progenitors of various peoples of the Pacific Islands.8 Thus, for many Polynesians the story about Hagoth and the possibility of other Lehite voyages by sea has significantly influenced perceptions of cultural identity and heritage.9 Officially, though, the LDS church claims no specific revelation or position on these matters.10

While the fate of Hagoth’s travelers is not certainly known, the very fact that their journeys are mentioned at all is relevant to interpreting the Book of Mormon. Mormon was very selective about what he included in his narrative,11 which suggests that digressing into details about these migrations must have served some overarching narrative goal. 

The story of Hagoth shows that the scattering of Israel as happening even among the Nephites. The Flight of the Prisoners by James Tissot

Wherever they went and whatever their relationship with the indigenous peoples in the Pacific, Hagoth’s oceanic voyagers certainly open up the possibility for the Lehite lineage to have been dispersed to locations far away from the central locus of the Book of Mormon narrative.12 Thematically speaking, this helps readers recognize that even among the Nephites, the scattering of Israel was still taking place.13 Indeed, nine years after Hagoth set sail, large numbers of Nephites migrated a “great distance” to the north (Helaman 3:3), and Mormon’s description of their multiplying and spreading abroad to the south, north, west and east, uses language similar to the covenantal promise given to Jacob in Genesis 28:14, indicating that he saw these migrations as part of that larger Abrahamic narrative.

Furthermore, the fact that ships were being built at all and that Nephites were feeling a need to relocate suggest that population growth and industry were being restored after the lengthy war between the Nephites and the Lamanites.14 This renewed economic prosperity accompanied by a northward expansion helps set the stage for the next phase of Nephite history. As John L. Sorenson explained:

Other major realignments took place during the Expansion phase. Cultural, and probably genetic, interchange continued between the main Lamanite and Nephite centers. … As the Book of Mormon narrative approached AD 30, the picture of society throughout the “promised land” occupied by Lehi’s descendants was one of factional fragmentation and perhaps increasing cultural differentiation within a highly variegated set of environments. It was evidently difficult for the component peoples to maintain stable social and cultural conditions.15

In other words, expansion and prosperity helped pave the way for increasing social complexity and eventual instability. Sorenson’s analysis helps demonstrate that the story about Hagoth and the other voyages northward was not merely a casual digression into historical trivia. On the contrary, Mormon (who would have had a personal interest in the land northward where he grew up16) presented this information to help readers better conceptualize the largescale transportations and important transformations happening among the Nephite and Lamanite civilizations.17 No narrative takes place in a historical vacuum, and the better readers understand the historical backdrop of the Book of Mormon, the more real and meaningful its sacred stories will become to them.

Further Reading
Footnotes
Hagoth
Lamentations
Land North
Nephites
Plainness
Sailing
Gathering of Israel
Ship
Book of Mormon

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