Ether 10:2 Shez…did build up a righteous kingdom; for he did remember
what the Lord had done
Neal A. Maxwell
“[There
is an] urgency of our coming to know God and His scheme of things, and of also developing
within ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren a sense of history,
including what God has done for Israel. Such reminders of the past-and
millennia of memories from the scriptures-will help us amid present challenges.
“For
instance, one religious and political leader, Shez, had the difficult
assignment of beginning ‘to build up again a broken
people’ (Ether 10:1). To begin with, Shez remembered ‘the destruction of his fathers’ and also ‘remembered what the Lord had done in bringing Jared and
his brother across the deep.’ This sense of spiritual history helped him
as he began to ‘build up a righteous kingdom’
of people who, once again, learned to ‘walk in the
ways of the Lord’ (Ether 10:2).
“This
‘memory’ or sense of history should reach back not just a few decades but to
the very beginning-even way back to the stated purposes of the Lord with regard
to this whole mortal experience…scriptures give us a framework for better
understanding mortality amid ‘all occasions.’
“Equipped
with such a framework, along with a sense of history, we find that a great many
things become clearer.
“This
sense of spiritual history will thus truly help Church members to stay the
course, to hold out faithful, and to endure well (see D&C 6:13; D&C
121:8). And surely some such guide and stay is crucial to us for it will take
both testimony and spiritual sophistication to ride out some of the challenges
of our time and to avoid being diverted or discouraged.” (We Will Prove Them
Herewith, pp. 2-4)
Ether 10:5 Riplakish did not do that which was right
“Riplakish,
like wicked king Noah, had many wives and concubines, laid a grievous tax on
his people, built spacious buildings, and eventually suffered a violent death
(Ether 10:4-8).” (Lee L. Donaldson, Book of Mormon Symposium Series, 4
Nephi - Moroni, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 77)
Ether 10:5 Riplakish…did have many wives and concubines
“The
Jaredites of the Book of Mormon arose a century or so after the Flood. It is possible, though by no means certain,
that at least some in the early colony were polygynists (the brother of Jared
had 22 sons and daughters [Ether 6:20]).
In any event, polygyny was definitely practiced in the first half of their
approximately two-thousand-year-plus history.
One of their earlier kings, Riplakish, was not unlike the later
Solomon. He burdened his people with
heavy taxes, built numerous large buildings with forced labor, had ‘many wives and concubines ... [and] did afflict the people with his whoredoms and
abominations’ (Ether 10:5-7).
Jaredite polygyny, was not restricted to royalty. Moroni recorded that in the final
fratricidal war of the Jaredites every man kept his sword in hand ‘in the defence of his property and his own life and of
his wives and children’ (Ether 14:2).” (Rodney Turner, Book of
Mormon Symposium Series, Jacob – Words of Mormon, edited by PR Cheesman, MS
Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 280)
Ether 10:11 he did do justice unto the people, but not unto himself
Neal A. Maxwell
“Strange
as it seems, some are more fair to others than they are to themselves!
Morianton, for instance, was able to prosper a whole nation he had conquered
with an army of outcasts. Furthermore, as a ruler he dealt justly with his
people. However, he was not fair with himself. In what way? Because of his
immoral life-style. He was his own victim! (See Ether 10:11.)
“When
we sin, we not only sin against God and others but also we actually sin against
ourselves. We act against our own self-interest, leaving self-inflicted wounds.
Morianton would have done well to follow this sage advice: ‘You cannot play
with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood
without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your
sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn't reserve a
plot for weeds.’ (That Ye May Believe, pp. 154-55)
Neal
A. Maxwell
“There
are many scriptures which are less used, less ‘advertised,’ than others, but
which speak out to us, nevertheless. For instance, in Ether 10:11 it is said of
Morianton the king that, ‘he did do justice unto the
people, but not unto himself because of his many whoredoms... ‘ How
often do we see those in life whose ‘public’ contributions are significant, who
treat others better than they treat themselves in terms of doing what is right?
History seems replete with examples of men whose contributions were superior,
but whose lives contained some fatal flaw which kept them from making even
greater contributions and, more importantly, kept them from mortal happiness
and from working out their salvation. Some shrug off these defects as being
insignificant alongside their accomplishment (which no one can take from them).
And since one can hardly measure present misery, and can scarcely measure
misery retroactively, rebuttal is difficult. Yet, is it not reasonable to
suggest that the maxim, ‘no other success in life can compensate for failure in
the home’ was operative then as well as now? Conversely put, ‘disorder in the
passions is mirrored by disorder in the state.’ Personality and politics are inevitably intertwined.” (For the
Power is in Them, pp. 35-36)
Neal
A. Maxwell
“In
some respects, it is easier to govern a whole people than oneself…One can cater
to mortal constituencies but lose the support of the one Elector who matters!”
(We Will Prove Them Herewith, p. 5)
Ether 10:14 he did remain in captivity all his days
Hugh Nibley
“The
Jaredites, like their Asiatic relatives and unlike the Nephites, were
thoroughgoing monarchists, and their monarchy is the well-known Asiatic
despotism lacking none of the trimmings. Where could one find a more perfect
thumbnail portrait of the typical Asiatic overlord than in the four verses that
describe the reign of Riplakish? (Ether 10:5-8). The lechery and cruelty, the
magnificence and the oppression are all there…Such is the practice, mentioned
many times in the book [Hajji Baba], of keeping a king prisoner
throughout his entire lifetime, allowing him to beget and raise a family in
captivity, even though the sons thus brought up would be almost sure to seek
vengeance for their parent and power for themselves upon coming of age. Thus
Kib (Ether 7:7) was taken captive by his own son, begot yet other children in
captivity, and died of old age, still a prisoner…It seems to us a perfectly
ridiculous system, yet it is in accordance with the immemorial Asiatic usage.”
(Lehi In The Desert / The World Of The Jaredites, p. 205)
Ether 10:20 they built a great city by the narrow neck of land
Students of the Book of
Mormon often imagine that the Jaredites lived in what is now North America.
Often, they imagine that they lived in the regions near Palmyra, where the
plates were eventually found. However, this verse makes it clear (and the rest
of the Book of Mormon supports the notion) that the Jaredite settlements were
just north of the narrow neck of land. It is pretty hard to find a narrow neck
of land anywhere close to the state of New York. Therefore, this notion should
be abandoned. The Jaredites lived in a land later called Desolation, not
because the land was completely barren but because the people suffered a
desolating annihilation there (Hel 3:6). And the land of Desolation was defined
as the land just north of the narrow neck, Thus the
land on the northward was called Desolation…and now, it was only the distance
of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land
Desolation (Alma 22:31-32, see also Alma 63:5).
Ether 10:31 he begat Heth…And Heth begat Aaron
Chapter 10 can lull the
reader to sleep with a long list of kings which are only distinguishable by
whether or not they were righteous. However, Moroni’s abridgment comes not from
a secular, royal history but from the personal record of Ether. In verses
30-31, we realize that the record does not follow the line of kings but Ether’s
own genealogical line. Heth, Aaron, Amnigaddah, Coriantum, and Com all dwelt in
captivity. But none of these reigned as king until Com took half the kingdom.
Thus, Ether’s record is the story of his forefathers, not just the kings of the
Jaredites.
“Neither
did Ether give much attention to those usurping rulers, likely from a competing
lineage, who imprisoned his ancestors and so kept them from their place on the
throne; in fact, their names aren’t even mentioned in the Book of Ether. (See Ether 10:30-31; Ether 11:17-19.)
To the people of Jared’s lineage, those names were not important.
“In significant ways, the burden of these ancient American records was about the fate of the central families who kept them. Others were sometimes mentioned, but only because they provided necessary scenery and furniture for the primary drama. Even centuries-long periods could be ignored, no doubt because little happened then which was considered crucial in determining the destiny of the descendants of Nephi or of Jared.” (John L. Sorenson, Ensign, Sept. 1984, “Digging into the Book of Mormon”)