The Annihilation of the Jaredites at the Hill Ramah

Book of Mormon Notes - Thursday, June 20, 2024, Ether 15

A parallel between Nephite and Jaredite history that occurred to me this morning is that the Lord mercifully intervened with natural calamities before finally leaving both civilizations to their own devices. Among the Lehites, the Lord sent fires, whirlwinds, tempests, earthquakes, and other natural disasters to destroy the wicked and prepare the way for his visit to and ministry among the survivors in Bountiful. Among the Jaredites, the Lord sent a plague and poisonous serpents to humble the people and prepare them for greater blessings and prosperity. But finally, the Lehites destroyed each other just as the Jaredites had destroyed each other in a terrible war.

Moroni’s abridgment of Ether’s record of the final conflict between the two warring factions of the Jaredites, the armies of Shiz against the armies of Coriantumr, is a gruesome and sorrowful account. I believe that we can learn a lot from the way in which King Mosiah’s people responded to the Jaredite record that he translated long before Moroni accomplished his work of abridgment:

Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, and also the plates of Nephi, and all the things which he had kept and preserved according to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi;

And this he did because of the great anxiety of his people; for they were desirous beyond measure to know concerning those people who had been destroyed.

And now he translated them by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow.

Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages;

And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;

And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times.

Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time back until the creation of Adam.

Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow; nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice.

And this account shall be written hereafter; for behold, it is expedient that all people should know the things which are written in this account. (Mosiah 28:11-19)

First of all, King Mosiah’s people were anxious and desirous beyond measure to know concerning the Jaredites, those people who had been destroyed. It is baffling to me why more people aren’t anxious and desirous beyond measure to read the Book of Mormon for the same reason. Second, after King Mosiah translated the Jaredite record from the twenty-four gold plates, and after the people of Mosiah learned the history of the Jaredites, the account caused them to mourn exceedingly. The people of Mosiah were filled with sorrow because of the destruction of the Jaredites. How do we feel when we read about the destruction of the Jaredites or the destruction of the Lehites? Third, the people of Mosiah also rejoiced because the record provided them with much knowledge. Are we grateful and do we rejoice in the great knowledge that we receive from the Book of Mormon and the Book of Ether?

It is interesting to me that exceeding mourning and much knowledge seem to go hand in hand. Abigail Adams put it succinctly:

Well, knowledge is a fine thing, and mother Eve thought so; but she smarted so severely for hers, that most of her daughters have been afraid of it since.

In other words, like the people of Mosiah who mourned exceedingly and were filled with sorrow because of the destruction of the Jaredites, we may mourn exceedingly and be filled with sorrow because of the destruction of the Jaredites and the Nephites. Nevertheless, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Ether provide us with much knowledge, in the which we may rejoice.

In fact, as we read and weep over the destruction of the Jaredites and the Nephites, I imagine that the Lord might suggest, as he did to the daughters of Jerusalem, that we instead weep for ourselves:

And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.

But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (Luke 23:27-31)

How were the Jaredites finally destroyed?

Coriantumr recovered from his wounds and began to remember the words of the Prophet Ether. Coriantumr saw that about two million of his mighty men along with their wives and their children had been slaughtered in battled, and his sorrow was overwhelming. He began to repent of his evil and to remember the words of all the prophets. He knew that the words of the prophets had been fulfilled every whit, and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted. Coriantumr was so distraught that he even petitioned Shiz to spare the people in exchange for the kingdom. But Shiz would only be satisfied with blood. In his epistle, Shiz demanded that Coriantumr give himself up so that he could slay him with his own sword, and only then would he spare the people.

Naturally, Coriantumr’s people were not pleased with Shiz’s demands. Coriantumr’s people were enraged, and in response, Shiz’s people were enraged. Hatred, anger, and rage inflamed the Jaredites (as they also later inflamed the Lehites) on both sides of the conflict, and the people of Shiz gave battle to and pursued the people of Coriantumr to the waters of Ripliancum. This is another point in Moroni’s abridgment in which he inserted the Jaredite word along with the translation: Ripliancum means large, or to exceed all. This is all the more significant because as President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) taught, the Jaredites likely spoke in the language of Adam:

It is stated in the Book of Ether that Jared and his brother made the request of the Lord that their language be not changed at the time of the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. Their request was granted, and they carried with them the speech of their fathers, the Adamic language, which was powerful even in its written form, so that the things Mahonri wrote ‘were mighty even … unto the overpowering of man to read them.’ That was the kind of language Adam had and this was the language with which Enoch was able to accomplish his mighty work (The Way to Perfection [1970], 69).

If this is true, then it better explains Moroni’s concern about his weakness in writing. After all, it’s hard to compete with the pure language of Adam.

After camping at the sea shore, the battle resumed and Coriantumr was wounded yet again. He fainted because of the loss of blood. But the armies of Coriantumr retaliated and beat the armies of Shiz, driving them southward into Ogath. Then Moroni explains once again how the Jaredite battles overlapped with Nephite geography:

And it came to pass that the army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred. (Ether 15:11)

If I understand correctly, the hill that the Jaredites called Ramah was called Cumorah by the Nephites:

And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni. (Mormon 6:6)

There is much furious debate about this topic. Ultimately, it matters less to me what or where the hill Ramah or Cumorah than the purpose and meaning of the records that were buried and unearthed there, but it’s an interesting question nonetheless. I just wish that those who are passionate about their opinions regarding Book of Mormon geography would stop fighting and put their heads together to follow the truth of the evidence wherever it leads. Sometimes I hope that God put the hill Cumorah somewhere in Australia just to confound the contentious. My personal opinion is that it makes the most sense that the hill Ramah and the hill Cumorah are one and the same and that it is in what is now the northeastern United States of America (see also here, here, here, and here).

Probably not coincidentally, the Hebrew word ramah also means hill, or elevation or height. Interestingly, and perhaps not coincidentally, Cumorah sounds similar to Gomorrah. It makes the most sense to me that the hill Ramah is the hill Cumorah which is the traditional hill Cumorah in New York. There is currently no official statement from the Church that identifies the location of the hill Cumorah, but the two Cumorah theory seems far-fetched to me.

It is clear, however, that the final destruction of the Jaredites and the final destruction of the Nephites took place in the same region, by the same hill where Moroni’s father Mormon hid up the sacred records unto the Lord. From Moroni’s account, I understand that the sacred records that Mormon hid up included all of the Nephite records except for the records that Moroni took with him and buried separately. Remember Brigham Young’s statement at a conference in 1877 (see also here):

I believe I will take the liberty to tell you of another circumstance that will be as marvelous as anything can be. This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, but he did not take the liberty of telling such things in meeting as I take. I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want to carry them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also, that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: "This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.

It appears, therefore, that there were at least two depositories for records and other items:

The particular place in the hill, where Moroni secreted the book, was revealed, by the angel, to the Prophet Joseph Smith, to whom the volume was delivered in September, AD. 1827. But, the grand depository of all the numerous records of the ancient nations of the western continent, was located in another department of the hill. Orson Pratt The Latter-day Saints Millennial Star, Volume 28 July 7, 1866 Page 417

Whatever the case, Moroni knows where the hill Cumorah is and where the records are. Besides the text of the Book of Mormon, I would also give the greatest weight to whatever the Prophet Joseph Smith said on the matter.

By the hill Ramah, the Jaredite armies assembled for battle. All the survivors gathered together by the hill Ramah to fight. Ether observed these terrible events during the night while hiding himself in his cave and writing by day. Ether watched as Shiz and Coriantumr gathered more and more troops, including women and children, into their respective armies. The troops of Shiz and Coriantumr gathered for four years. Which side would you choose? It seems to me that Shiz and his supporters were like ancient Democrats whereas Coriantumr and his supporters were like ancient Republicans. Shiz was like Hillary Clinton. Coriantumr was like Trump. Shiz and his followers were never-Coriantumrers. Which side would you choose?

If I didn’t know about Ether, I would probably choose Coriantumr’s side. If I knew about Ether’s prophesies, I would probably choose Coriantumr’s side. Really, I would rather join Ether and help him with his observations and records.

The armies of Shiz and Coriantumr must have been a terrible sight:

And it came to pass that when they were all gathered together, every one to the army which he would, with their wives and their children—both men, women and children being armed with weapons of war, having shields, and breastplates, and head-plates, and being clothed after the manner of war—they did march forth one against another to battle; and they fought all that day, and conquered not. (Ether 15:15)

Moroni’s abridgment of Ether’s record vividly conveys not just the terrible sights and smells of the Jaredite destruction, but also the terrible sounds:

And it came to pass that when it was night they were weary, and retired to their camps; and after they had retired to their camps they took up a howling and a lamentation for the loss of the slain of their people; and so great were their cries, their howlings and lamentations, that they did rend the air exceedingly.

And it came to pass that on the morrow they did go again to battle, and great and terrible was that day; nevertheless, they conquered not, and when the night came again they did rend the air with their cries, and their howlings, and their mournings, for the loss of the slain of their people. (Ether 15:16-17)

Coriantumr tried one more time to prevent war and forfeit the kingdom to Shiz in order to spare the people. But like Mormon’s description of the perishing Nephites, the Jaredites day of grace had passed. (see Mormon 2:15) Moroni summarizes the root cause of the downfall of the Jaredites:

But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle. (Ether 15:19)

The see-saw battles continued, back and forth, back and forth, between the enraged forces of Shiz and the enraged forces of Coriantumr. They were drunken with anger, even as a man who is drunken with wine. They slept upon their swords. Back and forth the battles raged again until Ether counted only 52 in Coriantumr’s army and 69 in Shiz’s army. They fought again the next day until only 27 in Coriantumr’s army and 32 in Shiz’s army remained. By this time, certainly all women and children had been massacred. Only the biggest, strongest, swiftest, and most agile remained.

The remaining few ate and slept and prepared for death on the morrow. They fought for three more hours and fainted with the loss of blood. When Coriantumr’s men tried to flee, Shiz and his men pursued them with fury until the next day they all fought again. Everyone fell by the sword until only Shiz and Coriantumr remained. But Shiz had fainted for the loss of blood. This final scene of the destruction of the Jaredites is like something straight out of Homer, Virgil, or Beowulf:

And it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz.

And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died.

And it came to pass that Coriantumr fell to the earth, and became as if he had no life. (Ether 15:30-32)

The writhing of Shiz’s decapitated body reminds me of the original Clash of the Titans when Perseus defeated Medusa. Coriantumr survived. In a sense he was victorious. In reality, because he refused to repent, he lost everything.

After Coriantumr fainted, the Lord commanded Ether to go forth. Ether emerged from his cave and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled. Ether finished his record, the hundredth part of which Moroni did not write. Ether hid his records in a manner that the people of Limhi later found them. Even though he could only write a small portion of Ether’s record, Moroni recorded Ether’s last written words, words that must have also been very meaningful for Moroni in his own dire circumstances:

Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen. (Ether 15:34)

This is a good point in our study to recollect Ether’s prophesy:

And in the second year the word of the Lord came to Ether, that he should go and prophesy unto Coriantumr that, if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people—

Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr. (Ether 13:20-21)