Why Did Nephi’s People Want Him to Be a King?

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“And it came to pass that they would that I should be their king. But I, Nephi, was desirous that they should have no king; nevertheless, I did for them according to that which was in my power.” 2 Nephi 5:18

The Know

When Nephi and “all those who would go with [him]” fled from his older brothers and their murderous intentions, they came to a new land and built a city in a place they called Nephi (2 Nephi 5:6–8). The people even called themselves after Nephi, and Nephi says, “They would that I should be their king” (2 Nephi 5:18). Gregory Steven Dundas noted, “There was apparently a universal desire to make Nephi their king.”1

Up to this point, Nephi had already been acting as their leader, teaching them to work in various crafts and organizing their labor for large construction projects. He even referred to them as “my people” (2 Nephi 5:15–17). It is unclear what motivated the people to desire a king and how that role differed from the leadership Nephi was already providing. Perhaps this was their way of following Lehi’s counsel to “hearken unto the voice of Nephi” (2 Nephi 1:28). They may have also learned of righteous kings such as Josiah and Hezekiah from the plates of brass and hoped that Nephi could emulate those kings’ leadership.

Dundas suggests that in their request, “they were simply acting like a typical ancient people.”2 In that respect, it is interesting to note that other ancient people in pre-Columbian America were beginning to adopt an early form of kingship around this time. Brant A. Gardner hypothesized that the early Nephites’ “desire for a king reflected a surge in the rise of kings all around the city of Nephi.”3

In recent decades, scholars have observed that the initial developments that led to centralized authority and kingship in Mesoamerica began earlier than previously thought. David Webster noted that these developments began between 650 and 400 BC among the Maya.4 For example, Richard Hansen has noted that during the early first millennium BC in the Mirador Basin of Guatemala, “an embryonic leadership and status hierarchy” began to arise, with clear “symbols of hierarchical status” attested by 600 BC. Then, between “600 to 400 BC, kingcraft had evolved to the point where pyramidal structures” were constructed, and “with the maturation of kingship, a major new focus became the economic and social organization of massive labor forces to construct ritually significant architecture.”5

Similarly, early developments are attested in the southern Guatemalan highlands. For instance, at the site of Naranjo, about three kilometers from ancient Kaminaljuyú (at present-day Guatemala City), a stone monument at a large ceremonial center constructed between 750 and 400 BC suggests that, if not full-blown kingship, at least “some form of centralized authority played a key role in the construction and control of Naranjo.”6 Robert J. Scharer and Loa P. Traxler have noted that “the appearance of [such] public monuments marks the beginnings of the institution of divine kingship in Maya society.”7 By 400 BC, “the earliest Maya rulers had begun to dedicate carved stelae as public testimonials to their political legitimacy,” as evidenced by a stela from this period at Kaminaljuyú.8

According to Webster, “Some archaeologists believe that the basic ideological and iconographic conventions of kingship originated in highland centers such as Kaminaljuyú.”9 Interestingly, several Latter-day Saint scholars hypothesize that the city of Nephi was at or near Kaminaljuyú.10 If that is correct, Gardner explains, “The Book of Mormon places Nephi’s kingship in the right location for the nascent Mesoamerican forms of kingship, albeit early in its development. … In the city of Nephi, we see evidence of the general trend to kingship that would continue in other Mesoamerican communities.”11

The Why

In the Old Testament, when the Israelites requested that Samuel appoint “a king to judge us,” their motive was that they “may be like all the nations” around them (1 Samuel 8:5, 20; see Deuteronomy 17:14). Given the evidence for centralized authority and early king-like rulers emerging around the time of Nephi in the New World, the early people of Nephi may have been in a situation similar to that of the early Israelites. In fact, some Indigenous people from other nations may have assimilated with the people of Nephi, providing internal pressures to conform to this broader political trend.12

Much like the prophet Samuel was “displeased” that the people of Israel asked for a king, Nephi “was desirous that [his people] should have no king” (1 Samuel 8:6; 2 Nephi 5:18). Perhaps Nephi’s reluctance stemmed from his familiarity with this important account from Israelite history and his knowledge of the abysmal spiritual state of Judah at the tail end of the Hebrew monarchy.13

In the case of Samuel, after counseling with the Lord, he acquiesced to the people’s request for a king (1 Samuel 8:7, 22).14 Nephi, likewise, seems to have ultimately accepted the role of king among his people (2 Nephi 6:2; Jacob 1:11).15 Yet Nephi’s case was different in an important respect: when the Israelites approached Samuel, they asked him to choose a king; when the Nephites approached Nephi, they asked him to be a king. Thus, the Israelites, to some extent at least, were rejecting the Lord’s leadership through his prophet—as the Lord told Samuel, “they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

In contrast, the Lord had divinely appointed Nephi to be a “ruler and teacher” (1 Nephi 2:22; 2 Nephi 5:19).16 Thus, in seeking to crown Nephi as their king, the people were accepting the Lord’s chosen ruler and were thus embracing rather than rejecting the Lord’s right to reign over them. This is reinforced by the way righteous Nephite kings, beginning with Nephi himself, adhered to the criteria of kingship established by the Lord in Deuteronomy 17:14–20.17

The account of Samuel portrays the Israelites’ choice to be ruled by a king negatively, but other parts of scripture provide a different perspective. The book of Judges contains horrifying stories that many scholars believe were meant to illustrate the dangerous anarchy that prevailed before the rise of the monarchy.18 Thus, kingship is not without benefits.19 As Gardner writes, “kings arise because they are useful” or at least appear to be useful to certain interest groups.20 Dundas argues that in the Book of Mormon, the system of judges is actually less effective at maintaining societal order than the earlier monarchy but is preferable because it provides individuals greater spiritual accountability.21

As Alma and Mosiah would later explain, just men who establish the laws of God can be beneficial as kings to the people (Mosiah 23:8; 29:13).22 With the exception of King Noah, all Nephite kings who are mentioned in the record are said to be righteous.23 Yet it is not always possible to ensure just men ascend to the throne. Alma himself witnessed firsthand the oppression a wicked king can impose on a people, and Mosiah learned of the horrors that unrighteous kingship can produce through the record of the Jaredites.24 The brother of Jared warned the early Jaredites against kingship, saying, “Surely this thing leadeth into captivity”—a truth borne out in the bloody annals of Jaredite history.25

This prompted Mosiah to move away from the monarchy to a system of judges before the Nephites’ “sad experience” or “the course of human events” forced his hand.26 Mosiah knew, however, that even this more democratic form of governance was not immune to corruption, and he warned that if the time ever came that the “voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you” (Mosiah 29:27).

Thus, the Book of Mormon teaches that in any form of government, what matters is the kind of men and women who occupy positions of power and the desire of the people to choose what is right. Therefore, all people living in all nations today should work within their rights to seek just men and women as government and civic leaders, just as the early people of Nephi did in desiring that Nephi become their king.

KnoWhy #717 | February 14, 2024

Why Did Nephi’s People Want Him to Be a King?

The Know

The Why