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Excellent observation, and also rationale for Laban getting drunk.
Not far from Laban’s house, where he had been so roughly and meanly treated before, Nephi stumbled upon the prostrate form of Laban, lying dead drunk in the deserted street ( 1 Nephi 4:7 ). The commander had been (so his servant later told Nephi) in conference with “the elders of the Jews. .. out by night among them” ( 1 Nephi 4:22 ), and he was wearing his full dress armor. What a world of inference in this! We sense the gravity of the situation in Jerusalem which “the elders” are still trying to conceal; we hear the suppressed excitement of Zoram’s urgent talk as he and Nephi hasten through the streets to the city gates ( 1 Nephi 4:27 ), and from Zoram’s willingness to change sides and leave the city we can be sure that he, as Laban’s secretary,6 knew how badly things were going. From the Lachish Letters it is clear that informed parties in Jerusalem were quite aware of the critical state of things at Jerusalem, even while the sarim, “the elders,” were working with all their might to suppress every sign of criticism and dis-affection. How could they take counsel to provide for the defense of the city and their own interests without exciting alarm or giving rise to general rumors and misgivings? By holding their meetings in secret, of course, such midnight sessions of civil and military leaders as Laban had just been attending.
I disagree with the author that one of the arguments for the consistent and correct translation of the words “slave” and “servant” in the Book of Mormon should be that said translation was done by the gift and power of God. While I do not deny that it was so translated or that they could have been translated both consistently and correctly, Royal Skousen, when speaking concerning his exhaustive studies of the Book of Mormon translations, makes it quite clear that God did not stop Joseph or any of his scribes from making mistakes and that they in fact made many during translation. In much the same way, our prophets and apostles are called of God but He makes no guarantee as to the truthfulness, validity, consistency and/or correctness of their utterances. God lets all His children, even His chosen, make mistakes so others can learn from those mistakes.
Maybe I’ll later have time to discuss issues with the Hebrew and Nibley, but this will have to do for now.
Zoram is most likely the theophoric Hebrew ṣûrām “Their-Rock,” which appears in parallel with Jehovah in Deut 32:30, as well as ʼĕlōhîm ṣûrām “God was their Rock,” in Psalm 78:35. As Margaret Barker has said:
“When Israel had been wandering in the desert, the rock accompanying them had been Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-11)—and ‘the rock’ is one of the names of the LORD in Deuteronomy.”
1 Cor 10:4 is explicit: “they drank of that spiritual Rock [petra] that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”
Compare similar theophoric Hebrew names such as Elizur “My God is a Rock” (Num 1:5), and Pedahzur “The Rock (God) has rescued” (Num 1:10).
Excellent article.
Joseph, ruler of Egypt (Genesis 41:43), was also the head of the family of Israel in Egypt and he wrote many things on the Brass Plates (2 Nephi 4:2). As they are written in Egyptian, it appears that Joseph began the Brass Plates. “Laban…was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records” (1 Nephi 5:16). Because of this genealogy, and the fact that he had the records, would indicate that he was the recognized leader or prince of the tribe on Manasseh. In ancient Israel there was a designated prince or leader for each of the tribes (Numbers 1:44).
The council of the elders that Laban had been with was probably the council of the Seventy Elders, as it existed at the time (Exodus 24:1; Number 11:16), which later became known as the Sanhedrin. As was noted in the article, even though Laban had been “among them” that night, he was probably not a member of them. Nephi specifies that they were “the elders of the Jews” and Laban was not a Jew, meaning of the house of Judah (1 Nephi 4:22).
I agree on both accounts, the Brass Plates were probably the book of remembrance of the tribe of Manasseh. Jewish legend holds that each tribe held a master copy of the Torah. This was probably one of them.
The Book of Mormon is full of political terminology translated literally. We don’t understand it because we don’t know Old Testament government. One of the houses of the ancient Jewish parliament was known as the “Zekenim,” or Elders. So when Zoram mentions the “elders of the Jews,” he almost certainly means the parliament.
As Joseph was the great-grandson of Abraham, the Brass Plates probably included the Book of Abraham. Joseph, as the rightful head of the family, would have been the rightful heir to the records of Abraham. The Book of Abraham was written in Egyptian and Joseph became the ruler of Egypt.
Collin
Thanks for the article. Another argument which supports Zoram not being a slave is the free and open discourse that he had with Nephi “concerning the elders of the Jews” when he thought that he was Laban (1 Nephi 4:27).
However, I tend to agree with Ammoron that Zoram was “pressed.” The initial oath that Nephi made to Zoram was that they “would spare his life” if Zoram would hearken unto Nephi’s words. The implication seems to be that he would be killed if he would not hearken.
Also, Where could Zoram go? He could not return to Jerusalem since he would be a prime suspect in Laban’s killing and subsequent stealing of the plates. When the brothers returned to the land of Jerusalem to talk with Ismael, it is notable that Zoram was not listed as going with them. This was possibly for his protection from arrest.
Valuable insights … Thank you!
If I understand correctly, Israelite society was divided into tribes, clans, family groups, and unrelated persons who were considered part of the group, i.e. Sebetim, Mishpachot, Beth Abim, and Re’im. When Lehi calls Zoram a “true friend” to Nephi, he was probably confirming a legal relationship, as a Re, or “friend, affiliate,” adopted into the family. So you are probably right about him being adopted into the family.