Helaman Chapter 11

This chapter illustrates a typical example of the so-called prosperity-pride-destruction cycle we see repeatedly in the Book of Mormon (see the commentary for Jacob 2:14).

1 and now it came to pass in the seventy and second year of the reign of the judges that the contentions did increase, insomuch that there were wars throughout all the land among all the people of Nephi.

2 And it was this secret band of robbers who did carry on this work of destruction and wickedness. And this war did last all that year; and in the seventy and third year it did also last.

verses 1-2 Brother Hugh Nibley wrote in response to the questions, "Who was left for the Gadianton Robbers to loot if everybody belonged? And who was fighting against whom?"

There were levels of control and profit-taking, as in a modern franchise set-up; at the heart of everything was the original band of charter members, a sort of central committee, whose meetings and manipulations were top-secret (Helaman 6:22-24). But there is no love lost among criminals, "the devil will not support his children at the last day," says Mormon, "but doth speedily drag them down to hell" (Alma 30:60). Inevitably interests and ambitions conflict, and so with criminal interests fighting each other "there were wars throughout all the land among the people of Nephi. And it was this secret band of robbers who did carry on this work of destruction and wickedness" (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, volume 8, 361-62).

3 And it came to pass that in this year Nephi did cry unto the Lord, saying:

4 O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee.

5 And so it was done, according to the words of Nephi. And there was a great famine upon the land, among all the people of Nephi. And thus in the seventy and fourth year the famine did continue, and the work of destruction did cease by the sword but became sore by famine.

6 And this work of destruction did also continue in the seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was dry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land.

verse 6 "in the season of grain" Those familiar with the seasons of Mesoamerica, the likely location of the Book of Mormon story, know that the only two seasons are the rainy season (May to October) and the dry season (October to May) (see also verse 13). The "season of grain" is dependent upon the season of rain.

7 And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to remember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi.

verse 7 "the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to remember the Lord their God" In that charming way that suggests a twinkle in his eye and is so characteristic of him, Brother Hugh Nibley wrote concerning this verse: "The famine was horrendous and put a stop to everything, so finally the people were willing to give up their stocks and bonds and settle for just their lives" (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, volume 8, 362- 63).

Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet commented on famines in the scriptures: "Famine is one of heaven's most eloquent sermons. When virtually all else has failed to get the attention of the rebellious and turn them to God, famines have succeeded. Famines can strip men of every sense of self-sufficiency and turn their eyes and ears to the voice of heaven (see Isaiah 51:19; Jeremiah 14:13-18; Amos 4:6)" (Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, volume 3, 390).

8 And the people began to plead with their chief judges and their leaders, that they would say unto Nephi: Behold, we know that thou art a man of God, and therefore cry unto the Lord our God that he turn away from us this famine, lest all the words which thou hast spoken concerning our destruction be fulfilled.

9 And it came to pass that the judges did say unto Nephi, according to the words which had been desired. And it came to pass that when Nephi saw that the people had repented and did humble themselves in sackcloth, he cried again unto the Lord, saying:

10 O Lord, behold this people repenteth; and they have swept away the band of Gadianton from amongst them insomuch that they have become extinct, and they have concealed their secret plans in the earth.

verse 10 Were the Gadianton robbers a secular group of thieves, or were they in fact an organization akin almost to a fraternal or "religion"? They probably were in fact the latter. Consider the following points. We are told in this verse that after they were abolished as a group, they "concealed their secret plans in the earth." Are you reminded of any other records that were sealed up in the earth by religious groups? How about the Dead Sea scrolls? Even the records of the Book of Mormon were buried by the Nephite remnants.

11 Now, O Lord, because of this their humility wilt thou turn away thine anger, and let thine anger be appeased in the destruction of those wicked men whom thou hast already destroyed.

12 O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, yea, thy fierce anger, and cause that this famine may cease in this land.

13 O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth rain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain.

14 O Lord, thou didst hearken unto my words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou saidst that: If this people repent I will spare them.

15 Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them.

16 And now, O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, and try again if they will serve thee? And if so, O Lord, thou canst bless them according to thy words which thou hast said.

17 And it came to pass that in the seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that rain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain.

18 And behold, the people did rejoice and glorify God, and the whole face of the land was filled with rejoicing; and they did no more seek to destroy Nephi, but they did esteem him as a great prophet, and a man of God, having great power and authority given unto him from God.

verse 18 Brother Hugh Nibley comments: "The end of the famine saw a great improvement in spiritual matters, the more part of the people, both the Lamanites and Nephites, belonging to the church. A period of economic expansion and much building also followed, and yet within a scant three years 'there began to be much strife' again, certain groups of dissenters taking to murder and plunder in the old style, building up great strength in the mountains and the wilderness" (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, volume 6, 388-89).

19 And behold, Lehi, his brother, was not a whit behind him as to things pertaining to righteousness.

verse 19 The fact that the Book of Mormon account gives most of its attention to Nephi and relatively ignores his brother Lehi may be less the result any inadequacies had by Lehi and more the result of the editor Mormon's arbitrary decision.

20 And thus it did come to pass that the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to build up their waste places, and began to multiply and spread, even until they did cover the whole face of the land, both on the northward and on the southward, from the sea west to the sea east.

21 And it came to pass that the seventy and sixth year did end in peace. And the seventy and seventh year began in peace; and the church did spread throughout the face of all the land; and the more part of the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, did belong to the church; and they did have exceedingly great peace in the land; and thus ended the seventy and seventh year.

22 And also they had peace in the seventy and eighth year, save it were a few contentions concerning the points of doctrine which had been laid down by the prophets.

23 And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, insomuch that they did put an end to their strife in that same year.

24 And it came to pass that in the eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were a certain number of the dissenters from the people of Nephi, who had some years before gone over unto the Lamanites, and taken upon themselves the name of Lamanites, and also a certain number who were real descendants of the Lamanites, being stirred up to anger by them, or by those dissenters, therefore they commenced a war with their brethren.

25 And they did commit murder and plunder; and then they would retreat back into the mountains, and into the wilderness and secret places, hiding themselves that they could not be discovered, receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them.

verses 24-25 This group of robbers and murderers will soon assume the identity of-no surprise here-the Gadianton robbers. Their methods of operation are typical examples of guerrilla warfare like, for example, Fidel Castro in the mountains of Cuba. Guerrillas hide in the mountains and come out of the mountains to make sorties down into the low lands, only when they think they can be successful. When they are hiding, as the Gadianton robbers did in the wilderness, they cannot be defeated. They are fighting on their own terms and on their own turf. The iron clad principles of guerrilla warfare are: Never fight on the other guy's terms, fight only on your own terms. Never try to hold territory. Simply continue making lightening attacks then retreat. If the enemy pursues, wipe them out. If you don't think you can win, hide. You're not out to prove your bravery. You can't afford to lose any battles. You don't have enough soldiers or weapons. These are the basic rules which the Gadianton robbers follow in the following verses, and these rules lead to their success (see verses 28 and 29 below). It is interesting that later the Gadianton robbers will violate these rules, and when they do, they are annihilated (see 3 Nephi 4).

It is interesting that it was not until the twentieth century when the principles of guerrilla warfare were laid out in writing. Joseph could have known nothing of guerrilla warfare when he translated the Book of Mormon, yet he has accurately described a form of warfare that he could have known nothing about from his environment in rural New York in 1829.

Permit me to digress for a moment and express to you, the reader, that as I have studied the Book of Mormon for the past several years, I cannot begin to estimate how many times I have had the Spirit of the Lord wash over me and cause me to think, and even say aloud, "There is no way Joseph could have written this book." Indeed, I know by the power of the Spirit that it is true!

"receiving daily an addition to their numbers, inasmuch as there were dissenters that went forth unto them" Obviously this guerrilla-warfare style of life had a romantic and adventurous appeal to some of the younger generation of Nephites who went off and joined up with the bands in significant numbers.

26 And thus in time, yea, even in the space of not many years, they became an exceedingly great band of robbers; and they did search out all the secret plans of Gadianton; and thus they became robbers of Gadianton.

27 Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people of Nephi, and also among the people of the Lamanites.

28 And it came to pass that it was expedient that there should be a stop put to this work of destruction; therefore they sent an army of strong men into the wilderness and upon the mountains to search out this band of robbers, and to destroy them.

29 But behold, it came to pass that in that same year they were driven back even into their own lands. And thus ended the eightieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

30 And it came to pass in the commencement of the eighty and first year they did go forth again against this band of robbers, and did destroy many; and they were also visited with much destruction.

verse 30 Hugh Nibley comments: "Within a year the mountains and the wilderness became so infested with the robbers as to be closed entirely to Nephite occupation. The bands were well organized and defied both Nephite and Lamanite military power, making themselves an object of terror to the whole land by their raids and onslaughts. Still the people continued to forget the Lord and to ripen again for destruction for another five years" (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, volume 6, 388-89).

Hugh Nibley has also added to our insight regarding the bands of robbers in the Book of Mormon:

These bands of robbers [in the Book of Mormon] are not some exotic invention of romantic fancy, but a major factor in world history. We think of the age-old traditions of Seth and his robber bands in the Egyptian literature, of Pompey's Pirates or the Algerians, the Vikings, the Free Companies of the fourteenth century, the Kazaks, the Robber Barons, the Assassins, the Bagaudi, the Druze, the militant orders that imitated them (Templars, Knights of Rhodes, and so on), the Vitalian Brothers, the Riffs, and finally the Medellin drug lords of the south, whose long arm can constrain the leaders of nations. All of these operators were terrorists, and they held whole armies at bay and overthrew kingdoms. The best and perhaps the earliest description of such bands in action is from the Amarna Letters, where we find Lehi's own ancestors, the wandering, plundering Khabiru of the fourteenth century BC, actually overthrowing city after city in Palestine and disrupting the lives of nations (Prophetic Book of Mormon, 556).

31 And they were again obliged to return out of the wilderness and out of the mountains unto their own lands, because of the exceeding greatness of the numbers of those robbers who infested the mountains and the wilderness.

32 And it came to pass that thus ended this year. And the robbers did still increase and wax strong, insomuch that they did defy the whole armies of the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites; and they did cause great fear to come unto the people upon all the face of the land.

33 Yea, for they did visit many parts of the land, and did do great destruction unto them; yea, did kill many, and did carry away others captive into the wilderness, yea, and more especially their women and their children.

34 Now this great evil, which came unto the people because of their iniquity, did stir them up again in remembrance of the Lord their God.

35 And thus ended the eighty and first year of the reign of the judges.

36 And in the eighty and second year they began again to forget the Lord their God. And in the eighty and third year they began to wax strong in iniquity. And in the eighty and fourth year they did not mend their ways.

verse 36 Brother Nibley comments:

The prophets in the Book of Mormon marvel at how soon a righteous people can become wicked, and the speed of the reverse process is even more surprising. It is a common fallacy to think of things happening very slowly in history, and especially in ancient history. But the student has only to compare any two consecutive decades of history to realize that things do not move slowly at all-history moves at breath-taking speed. . . . [Here] as the result of a single famine, a wicked nation becomes a righteous nation. . . . If the hardened criminals in a Lamanite prison could suddenly be "encircled about, yea every soul, by a pillar of fire . . . and . . . filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory" (Helaman 5:43-44) and then go forth as missionaries to convert "the more part of the Lamanites" (Helaman 5:50)-if all such changes seem rather sudden, we have only to think of countless parallels in our own history. How long did it take millions of Germans and Italians, individually and collectively, to change completely from one state of mind to another? As a single speech could turn thousands of mild and sober citizens into ranting fanatics, so with the disappearance of the leader, dangerous men of war reverted just as quickly to well-meaning and sympathetic human beings. Does it take fifty years for great nations to change from fast friendship to bitter enmity? Twenty-four hours is enough (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, volume 7, 345-46).

37 And it came to pass in the eighty and fifth year they did wax stronger and stronger in their pride, and in their wickedness; and thus they were ripening again for destruction.

verse 37 For a discussion of the concepts of "pride" and "ripening . . . for destruction, see "Pride" in volume 1, chapter 5, The "Natural Man" and "Spiritual Man" in Ye Shall Know of the Doctrine.

38 And thus ended the eighty and fifth year.