9.13.2009

pgs. 498 and 499...the people desired of them that they should anoint one of their sons to be a king over them.

18 And it came to pass that they began to spread upon the face of the land, and to multiply and to till the earth; and they did wax strong in the land.
19 And the brother of Jared began to be old, and saw that he must soon go down to the grave; wherefore he said unto Jared: Let us gather together our people that we may number them, that we may know of them what they will desire of us before we go down to our graves.
20 And accordingly the people were gathered together. Now the number of the sons and the daughters of the brother of Jared were twenty and two souls; and the number of sons and daughters of Jared were twelve, he having four sons.
21 And it came to pass that they did number their people; and after that they had numbered them, they did desire of them the things which they would that they should do before they went down to their graves.
22 And it came to pass that the people desired of them that they should aanoint one of their sons to be a king over them.
23 And now behold, this was grievous unto them. And the brother of Jared said unto them: Surely this thing aleadeth into captivity.
24 But Jared said unto his brother: Suffer them that they may have a king. And therefore he said unto them: Choose ye out from among our sons a king, even whom ye will.
25 And it came to pass that they chose even the firstborn of the brother of Jared; and his name was Pagag. And it came to pass that he refused and would not be their aking. And the people would that his father should constrain him, but his father would not; and he commanded them that they should constrain no man to be their king.
26 And it came to pass that they chose all the brothers of Pagag, and they would not.
27 And it came to pass that neither would the asons of Jared, even all save it were one; and bOrihah was anointed to be king over the people.
28 And he began to reign, and the people began to aprosper; and they became exceedingly rich.
29 And it came to pass that Jared died, and his brother also.
30 And it came to pass that Orihah did walk humbly before the Lord, and did remember how great things the Lord had done for his father, and also taught his people how great things the Lord had done for their fathers.
THE BOOK OF ETHER
CHAPTER 7
Orihah reigns in righteousness—Amid usurpation and strife the rival kingdoms of Shule and Cohor are set up—Prophets condemn the wickedness and idolatry of the people, who then repent.
1 And it came to pass that Orihah did execute judgment upon the land in righteousness all his days, whose days were exceedingly many.
2 And he begat sons and daughters; yea, he begat thirty and one, among whom were twenty and three sons.
3 And it came to pass that he also begat aKib in his bold age. And it came to pass that Kib reigned in his stead; and Kib begat Corihor.
4 And when Corihor was thirty and two years old he rebelled against his father, and went over and dwelt in the land of Nehor; and he begat sons and daughters, and they became exceedingly fair; wherefore Corihor drew away many people after him.
5 And when he had gathered together an army he came up unto the land of aMoron where the king dwelt, and took him captive, which bbrought to pass the saying of the brother of Jared that they would be brought into captivity.
6 Now the aland of Moron, where the king dwelt, was near the land which is called Desolation by the Nephites.
7 And it came to pass that Kib dwelt in acaptivity, and his people under Corihor his son, until he became exceedingly old; nevertheless Kib begat Shule in his old age, while he was yet in captivity.
8 And it came to pass that Shule was angry with his brother; and Shule waxed strong, and became mighty as to the strength of a man; and he was also mighty in judgment.
9 Wherefore, he came to the hill Ephraim, and he did molten out of the hill, and made swords out of asteel for those whom he had drawn away with him; and after he had armed them with swords he returned to the city Nehor, and gave battle unto his brother Corihor, by which means he obtained the kingdom and restored it unto his father Kib.
10 And now because of the thing which Shule had done, his father bestowed upon him the kingdom; therefore he began to reign in the stead of his father.
11 And it came to pass that he did execute judgment in righteousness; and he did spread his kingdom upon all the face of the land, for the people had become exceedingly numerous.
12 And it came to pass that Shule also begat many sons and daughters.
13 And Corihor repented of the many evils which he had done; wherefore Shule gave him power in his kingdom.
14 And it came to pass that Corihor had many sons and daughters. And among the sons of Corihor there was one whose name was Noah.
15 And it came to pass that Noah rebelled against Shule, the king, and also his father Corihor, and drew away Cohor his brother, and also all his brethren and many of the people.
16 And he gave battle unto Shule, the king, in which he did obtain the land of their afirst inheritance; and he became a king over that part of the land.
17 And it came to pass that he gave battle again unto Shule, the king; and he took Shule, the king, and carried him away captive into Moron.
18 And it came to pass as he was about to put him to death, the sons of Shule crept into the house of Noah by night and slew him, and broke down the door of the prison and brought out their father, and placed him upon his throne in his own kingdom.
19 Wherefore, the son of Noah did build up his kingdom in his stead; nevertheless they did not gain power any more over Shule the king, and the people who were under the reign of Shule the king did prosper exceedingly and wax great.
20 And the country was adivided; and there were two kingdoms, the kingdom of Shule, and the kingdom of Cohor, the son of Noah.
21 And Cohor, the son of Noah, caused that his people should give battle unto Shule, in which Shule did beat them and did slay Cohor.
22 And now Cohor had a son who was called Nimrod; and Nimrod gave up the kingdom of Cohor unto Shule, and he did gain favor in the eyes of Shule; wherefore Shule did bestow great favors upon him, and he did do in the kingdom of Shule according to his desires.
23 And also in the reign of Shule there came aprophets among the people, who were sent from the Lord, prophesying that the wickedness and bidolatry of the people was bringing a curse upon the land, and they should be destroyed if they did not repent.

This simple explanation and chart about chapter 7 from the Institute Manual is very helpful. It makes me very thankful that we do not have a King in the USA.

The brother of Jared said that having a king would lead to captivity, and he was right. Kib, and later his son Shule, were taken captive by rivals. The following genealogical chart illustrates this part of the early Jaredite history. Notice how short the time was between the brother of Jared’s prophecy and its fulfillment.

Jaredite kings

Much Jaredite history is covered rapidly in this part of the book of Ether. In abridging the history, Moroni told only the highlights of hundreds of years of events. He emphasized the parallels with his own people and the lessons that would be most valuable for our time.