Did Korihor Usurp the Words of Zeniff?

Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several instances where a speaker or author in the Book of Mormon quotes a previous one. This article presents one such example: It appears that Korihor usurped the words of Zeniff, quoting some of them for his own purposes. The context of this reference to Zeniff’s words lies in Korihor’s claims that the Nephites were in bondage to the priests, just as the Lamanites wanted to bring Zeniff’s people into bondage. The connections between these two passages cross multiple generations and narrative events internally, and multiple pages of translated, dictated manuscript by Joseph Smith. It provides yet another example of the authenticity and complexity of the Book of Mormon, revealing the subtle rhetorical devices of the Book of Mormon, and further revealing the devices of an anti-Christ.

In the land of Zarahemla around 200 years before Christ, the Book of Mormon records that a military leader named Zeniff led a group of Nephites back to the land of Nephi, from which they had previously fled (Omni 1:27–30; Mosiah 9–10). However, this land was now ruled by the Lamanites, and after allowing Zeniff and his people to inhabit the land of Nephi, King Laman desired to bring them into bondage, which was his secret goal from the beginning (Mosiah 9:11–12). Zeniff, now a king himself, rallied his people to defend themselves “in the strength of the Lord” (Mosiah 9:17–18; 10:10–11).[1] Before his death, he recorded a brief history of his reign and left his son, King Noah, to reign, rather [Page 212]disastrously, in his stead. Approximately eighty years after Zeniff left Zarahemla, and following much tribulation, the Lord enabled his people to return (Mosiah 25:16).

After their return, life continued in Zarahemla for the next forty-six years. With a few notable exceptions, “the establishment of the church became general throughout the land, in all the region round about, among all the people of the Nephites” (Alma 16:15). Many Lamanites were converted and brought under the protection of the Nephites, which strengthened the Church greatly (Alma 27:26–30). But those years were also marked by vigorous defensive wars to keep the Lamanites out of their land. Following one such war, the believers “were strict in observing the ordinances of God according to the law of Moses” (Alma 30:3), and the people lived in peace for two years. Then, an anti-Christ named Korihor came among the Nephites in the latter end of the seventeenth year of the reign of the judges (around seventy-four years before Christ). He attempted to counter the prevailing beliefs by preaching that there would be no Christ.

While it is appropriate that much has been written about the teachings of Korihor and how they are echoed in our day, this article will focus on a different aspect of Korihor’s preaching: the accusation that the people in the land of Zarahemla were in bondage, both to a belief in Christ and to the leaders of the Church. “O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? . . . Ye say that this people is a free people. Behold, I say: These are in bondage” (Alma 30:13, 24). This theme of bondage is what connects Korihor to Zeniff. He even repeats a passage from Zeniff’s record. He was making a rhetorical appeal to the Nephite history of bondage to make his message more persuasive.

Zeniff’s Description of the Lamanites

Zeniff realized that the Lamanites had only allowed them to live in the land of Nephi so that they could bring them into bondage. He explains the motive of the King of the Lamanites and provides a description of his people in stark but clear terms:

Now it was the cunning and the craftiness of king Laman to bring my people into bondage that he yielded up the land that we might possess it. . . . Now they were a lazy and an idolatrous people. Therefore they were desirous to bring us into bondage that they might glut themselves with the labors [Page 213]of our hands, yea, that they might feast themselves upon the flocks of our fields. (Mosiah 9:10, 12)

After years of resistance to Lamanite attacks, Zeniff’s people were brought into bondage, but in two separate groups: the people of Limhi (Zeniff’s grandson), and the people of Alma_1. Eventually both groups were delivered by the Lord and brought back to the land of Zarahemla.

When they were in bondage, the Lamanites required a tribute of half of all the possessions of the people of Limhi and absolute servitude from the people of Alma_1. Both groups also shared a common, earlier type of bondage under Zeniff’s son, Noah, who taxed his people one fifth of their possessions. Alma_1 taught his people that they had “been oppressed by king Noah and have been in bondage to him and his priests and have been brought into iniquity by them, therefore ye were bound with the bands of iniquity” (Mosiah 23:12). Noah and his priests were “supported in their laziness and in their idolatry . . . by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people” (Mosiah 11:6). Thus, Zeniff’s son led his people to become exactly what Zeniff had described the Lamanites to be, “a lazy and an idolatrous people” (Mosiah 9:12).

Nephite Scriptures

Zeniff’s personal account is short—comprising only two of our current chapters, Mosiah 10 and 11—unabridged and spoken in the first-person (Mormon’s abridgement shifts to third person at the beginning of the reign of King Noah). It was written on plates that Limhi brought with him to Zarahemla and gave to King Mosiah (Mosiah 8:5), who “read and caused to be read” Zeniff’s words to his people (Mosiah 25:5). Mosiah also read the records of Alma_1. This was a memorable event for the people as they “beheld those who had been delivered out of bondage” in front of them (Mosiah 25:8). Greatly expanding their scriptural canon, Limhi also brought the twenty-four Jaredite plates to Mosiah, which he “translated and caused to be written . . . because of the great anxiety of his people, for they were desirous beyond measure to know” (Mosiah 28:11–12). At the end of his reign, Mosiah conferred all the records, including Zeniff’s record, “upon Alma, which was the son of Alma—yea, all the records and also the interpreters” (Mosiah 28:20).

Several passages in the Book of Mormon imply a wide distribution of these scriptures—and that the Nephites studied and knew them. From generation to generation only one person at a time had charge [Page 214]of the records, but at the same time, “all those engravings . . . were written and sent forth among the children of men throughout all the land” (Alma 63:12–13; Mosiah 28:20). Some places where these writings are mentioned include:

1. Abinadi read the commandments to the priests of King Noah from a likely transcription of the plates of brass (Mosiah 13:11).

2. Alma_2 and Amulek at Ammonihah. Alma_2 cited several scriptures while teaching the people, including the Lord’s words to Lehi (Alma 9:13), scenes from the Garden of Eden (Alma 12:20–23; 31–35), and the story of Melchizedek (Alma 13:14–20), concluding, “the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them, it shall be to your own destruction” (Alma 13:20).

3. Many of the people of Ammonihah “began to repent and to search the scriptures,” and were subsequently “cast into the fire. And they also brought forth their records, which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by fire” (Alma 14:1, 8).

4. Ammon and Aaron read and used personal written copies of the scriptures in their missionary efforts (Alma 18:36–38; 22:11–13).

5. Alma_2 asked Korihor if he would deny “the testimony of . . . all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee” (Alma 30:44).

6. While teaching the Zoramites, Alma_2 said, “ye had ought to search the scriptures; for if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them. Do ye remember to have read what Zenos the prophet of old hath said . . . ?” (Alma 33:2–3).

7. Alma_2 taught Helaman the importance of the plates of brass: “they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways. . . . Were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers. Yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord [Page 215]their God and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.” Alma_2 expected the scriptures to bring thousands more Lamanites and thousands of Nephites to repentance, implying widespread dissemination (Alma 37:8–10).

8. Alma_2 charged Helaman to continue to preserve the twenty-four Jaredite plates, “that they may be made manifest unto this people” (Alma 37:21).

These are just a few examples out of many in the Book of Mormon, chosen because they are around the time of Korihor. Taken together they demonstrate widespread copying and dissemination of the records and scriptures in a form that was portable (and sometimes flammable). The original records that Mormon used to narrate the story of bondage in our current book of Mosiah—records of Zeniff, Noah, Limhi, and Alma_1—were available to the Nephites, including Korihor.

The Nephites were also in the practice of quoting scripture in order to bolster their message. In order for such a practice to be impactful, a knowledge of the scriptures is required both by those quoting and by those listening. Abinadi’s message is a good example of this. The priests of Noah quoted Isaiah 52:7–10 in their accusation, and in reply, Abinadi read the ten commandments and all of Isaiah 53. Note that the priests and Abinadi used, and were well-versed in, written copies of the plates of brass; the original set was in Zarahemla with King Mosiah and King Benjamin.

Some examples of quoting scripture to strengthen a message include Limhi referring to the exodus and quoting scripture (Mosiah 7:19, 29–32), Alma_2 quoting Isaiah (Alma 7:11), Antionah and Alma_2 quoting the plates of brass to each other (Alma 12:20–23), Alma_2 teaching about Melchizedek (Alma 13:14–20), Alma_2 quoting Zenos and Zenoch (Alma 33:2–16), and Captain Moroni quoting the biblical Jacob (Alma 46:24–27). Note that these are all examples of quoting from the plates of brass, but quoting original Nephite scriptures was also common.

Indeed, the two most striking examples of internal quotation in the Book of Mormon are quotations from previous Nephite prophets: Alma_2 quoting Lehi, and Samuel the Lamanite quoting King Benjamin.[2] Korihor quoting Zeniff is yet another example of this type of quotation.

[Page 216]Korihor’s Usurping the Words of Zeniff

Even though Zeniff lived around nine to twelve decades earlier than Korihor, the history of Nephite bondage, particularly their deliverance, was more recent. About forty-six years previous to Korihor, Mosiah had welcomed back the people of Limhi and Alma_1 to the land of Zarahemla, ending their bondage (Mosiah 6:4; 7:1; 29:46; Alma 30:6). It is safe to assume that at the time of Korihor, many of the survivors were still alive, and their children would have been aware of what their parents and grandparents endured. Alma_2 may even have been one of the children persecuted by Amulon’s children in Mosiah 24:8. Whether that speculation is correct or not, Alma_2 clearly implies that he himself was a survivor of Lamanite bondage: “the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word. And we were brought into this land” (Alma 5:5). Alma_2’s common preaching to “remember the captivity of your fathers” meant that this history of bondage and the Lord’s deliverance was not forgotten among the people (Alma 5:5–6; 29:11–12; 36:2).

Korihor appears to have repurposed this theme of bondage. Alluding to the history of Limhi and Alma_1’s people, he claimed that belief in Jesus Christ was akin to being bound down and yoked with foolish things, and also that the Nephite priests were keeping the people in ignorance, binding them to foolish ordinances and performances (Alma 30:13, 23). In the land of Gideon, to the high priest Giddonah, Korihor repeated Zeniff:

And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges. Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests, which do yoke them according to their desires. (Alma 30:27–28)

In all his recorded words in the Book of Mormon, Korihor used the concept of bondage/binding four times, and yoke two times. Significantly, he also used the word glut, “that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands.” This specific phrase is a direct reference to Zeniff’s writings (see table 1).

[Page 217]Table 1. Similarities between writings of Zeniff and Korihor.

Zeniff (Mosiah 9:12)

Korihor (Alma 30:27)

they were desirous

according to your own desires; and ye keep them down,

to bring us into bondage

even as it were in bondage,

that they might glut themselves with the labors of our hands

that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands

The word glut has meanings of “to feed to repletion; to indulge (appetite) to the utmost” and “to swallow, or to swallow greedily; to gorge.”[3] Zeniff wrote that the Lamanites wanted to “glut themselves with the labors of our hands, yea, that they might feast themselves upon the flocks of our fields” (Mosiah 9:12). Though Korihor didn’t quote Zeniff regarding the flocks of our fields, in Korihor’s claim that the Nephites “durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests” (Alma 30:28), the words their own may refer to the best of their flocks, required under the Law of Moses, which the Nephites were “strict in observing” (Alma 30:3).[4]

Korihor accused Alma_2 and the priests and teachers of “leading away the people after the silly traditions of their fathers for the sake of glutting in the labors of the people” (Alma 30:31). The Nephite monetary system provided Alma_2 with evidence to prove that he and his fellow priests were not laboring in the church out of gluttony or greed: “notwithstanding the many labors which I have performed in the church, I have never received so much as even one senine for my labor, neither hath any of my brethren” (Alma 30:33). It was actually King Noah and his priests who had done what Korihor accused Alma_2 and the Nephite priests of doing: glutting themselves on the labors of their people. Through taxation, Noah and his priests had extracted great wealth from the people.

Yea, and thus were they supported in their laziness and in their idolatry and in their whoredoms. . . . Thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity. . . . king Noah built [Page 218]many elegant and spacious buildings, and he ornamented them with . . . all manner of precious things, of gold. . . . And he also built him a spacious palace and a throne . . . and he spent his time in riotous living with his wives and his concubines. (Mosiah 11:6, 8–9, 14)

This gross wickedness was decried by an expelled priest of Noah, Alma_1. When later organizing the believers, he taught that the priests “should labor with their own hands for their support” (Mosiah 18:24).[5] His son Alma_2 lived by the same precept: “I have labored even from the commencement of the reign of the judges until now with mine own hands for my support” (Alma 30:32).

Additional Important Connections and Contrasts

Korihor’s teachings demonstrate a difference in approaches to using Nephite history to promote a message. The Book of Mormon uses the story of the Nephites’ bondage and subsequent deliverance to strengthen faith and trust in God. But Korihor used that same history to entice disbelief in God. Originally, Korihor’s teachings came from the devil, who appeared to Korihor “in the form of an angel” and taught him what to say (Alma 30:53).[6] In contrast, Alma_2’s teachings came from an angel who used Nephite bondage to encourage belief in God. He taught him to “remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam and in the land of Nephi, and remember how great things [God] hath done for them. For they were in bondage and he hath delivered them” (Mosiah 27:16). That message, to “remember the captivity of our fathers,” was something Alma_2 faithfully taught his people for years before Korihor’s disruptions (Alma 5:5–6; 36:2, 29) and, indeed, for the rest of his life. Thus, with the history of Nephite bondage, Alma_2 was inspired by an angel to teach faith, and Korihor was inspired by the devil, in the form of an angel, to teach doubt.

Korihor further claimed that the Nephites were taught “that they may not lift up their heads” (Alma 30:23, 27). His teachings rejected an attitude of humility and reverence toward God. He taught his many [Page 219]followers to defiantly “lift up their heads in their wickedness” (Alma 30:18). Korihor may have been making another connection to the history of the people of Alma_1 and Limhi, who were not inclined to “lift up their heads” in their bondage. After Ammon had found Limhi’s people, the king was joyous at the possibility of being freed from the Lamanites and told his people: “lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand—or is not far distant—when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies” (Mosiah 7:18). Similarly, the Lord silently spoke to the people of Alma_1 in their bondage to the Lamanites, “Lift up your heads and be of good comfort” (Mosiah 24:13). After further demonstrating their faith and patience, the Lord delivered them. Korihor’s teaching that the Nephites “may not lift up their heads” and “durst not look up with boldness” (Alma 30:23, 27) was an attempt to reinforce his accusation that they were in bondage, and that his teachings would free them.

The word glut is a key word in connecting these two passages. These are the only two chapters in the Book of Mormon that contain this specific word, and also the phrase “that they might glut themselves with the labors of our hands.” Korihor’s use of words of bondage—yoke, bondage/binding, etc.—may comprise a motif, similar to other biblical repetition motifs, with the word glut acting as a Leitwört, or lead-word. Ronald D. Anderson credited Robert Alter in explaining, “The Leit-wört theory is that when a word, word-root, or phrase recurs significantly in a text, the reader is able to decipher or grasp the meaning of the text by noting these repetitions and thus can determine its theme as well.”[7] Noel Hudson explains,

Once the readers’ attention is captured, they may be prompted to recall a related passage of scripture that uses the same word in a similar way. This creates an intertextual linkage between the two passages of scripture in a way that allows the reader to draw new conclusions.[8]

[Page 220]Several other examples have been noted in the Bible and Book of Mormon as evidence of ancient literary practice.[9]

The text of the Book of Mormon has multiple layers and languages—the original records, abridged by Mormon and translated by Joseph Smith—each encompassed by the gift and power of God. All of these factors can make establishing intertextual connections complicated. In this instance, it appears at face value that Mormon copied Zeniff’s personal record in its entirety (Mosiah 9–10) and Korihor’s exact words—recorded in first-person speech. Of course, Korihor spoke many more words to the Nephites than what we have in Alma 30. As editor and narrator, by choosing which words of Korihor to include, it seems Mormon himself is highlighting Korihor’s intertextual use of Zeniff, and guiding us to notice it also. Thus, we understand Korihor’s message in a new light and see a deeper meaning in it that helps us understand it closer to the way the Nephites did.

Accusations in Gideon and Zarahemla

A city named Gideon is where Korihor quoted Zeniff’s words directly. John Welch suggests that this city may have been where many of the people of Limhi settled. The city was named after Limhi’s captain, Gideon, who was instrumental in delivering them from bondage. Zeniff’s record may have been particularly well known among them.[10] They would have known exactly what Korihor was implying by quoting it. Rather than reply, they bound him and sent him to Zarahemla, where he repeated the accusation in front of both Alma_2 and Nephihah, the chief judge:

he did go on in the same manner as he did in the land of Gideon; . . . and did revile against the priests and teachers, accusing them of leading away the people after the silly traditions of their fathers for the sake of glutting in the labors of the people. (Alma 30:30–31)

Alma_2’s response was direct: “Thou knowest that we do not glut ourselves upon the labors of this people” (Alma 30:32). Alma_2’s [Page 221]dismissal of these accusations cut through Korihor’s “great swelling words” and got to the heart of the matter: belief in God. After repeated denials, God struck Korihor so that he could no longer speak. He confessed, lost his followers, and eventually was “ran upon and trodden down, even until he was dead” (Alma 30:59) by the Zoramites.[11]

Summary and Conclusions

Korihor usurped Zeniff’s words for his own purposes, which were to convince the people they were in a type of bondage; to denounce the Nephite priests just as Zeniff denounced the Lamanites. Even though these two passages are rather obscure and separated in the text, Korihor’s quotation fits his message seamlessly. This is more than just shared language; it makes narrative sense that he would attempt to reinforce his message by an appeal to the people’s recorded history. The fact that he taught it in the land of Gideon shows a subtle cunning on Korihor’s part—a calculated attempt with real human motivation. Thus, it further demonstrates the tactics of an anti-Christ.

All this adds together as another evidence that the Book of Mormon is an ancient and authentic text, not a creative work of Joseph Smith. The two passages are separated by over one hundred manuscript pages of dictated text.[12] Joseph never boasted about or published this connection, yet it was always there, waiting for us to discover it.

[Author’s Note: Thank you to my wife and children for all their patience and support and to the reviewers and editors of Interpreter, especially Godfrey Ellis.]

1. Royal Skousen, The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text, 2nd ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022). This edition is used for the passages quoted from the Book of Mormon throughout this article.

2. John W. Welch and J. Gregory Welch, “Samuel’s Quotation of Benjamin,” Chart 105, and “Alma’s Quotation of Lehi,” Chart 103, in “Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching,” (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies [FARMS], 1999), https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/mi/20.

3. Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “glut,” oed.com/search/advanced/Meanings?textTermText0=glut&textTermOpt0=WordPhrase&dateOfUseFirstUse=false&page=1&sortOption=AZ&tl=true; Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary, s.v. “glut,” https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/glut.

4. Daniel L. Belnap, “‘And he was Anti-Christ’: The Significance of the Eighteenth Year of the Reign of the Judges, Part 2,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 28, (2019): 120, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/4482/. Belnap states, “According to the law of Moses, the priests were in fact entitled to a portion of any given sacrifice offered at the sanctuary. Moreover, the Old Testament attests to the fact that this right, in some cases, led to priestly abuses.”

5. Belnap, “And he was Anti-Christ,” 120.

6. Godfrey J. Ellis posits that the “devil” who appeared to Korihor may have been Zoram, the leader of the Zoramites in “The Rise and Fall of Korihor, a Zoramite: A New Look at the Failed Mission of an Agent of Zoram,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 48 (2021): 49–94, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-korihor-a-zoramite-a-new-look-at-the-failed-mission-of-an-agent-of-zoram/.

7. Ronald D. Anderson, “Leitworter in Helaman and 3 Nephi,” The Book of Mormon: Helaman Through 3 Nephi 8, According to Thy Word, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), introduction page, https://rsc.byu.edu/book-mormon-helaman-through-3-nephi-8-according-thy-word/leitworter-helaman-3-nephi.

8. Noel Hudson “The Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman in the Standard Works,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 63 (2024), forthcoming.

9. Alan Goff, “Types of Repetition and Shadows of History in Hebraic Narrative,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 45 (2021): 265, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/types-of-repetition-and-shadows-of-history-in-hebraic-narrative/. See also Anderson, “Leitworter.”

10. The author gratefully credits Jack Welch with this insight regarding the city of Gideon. Email to author, 26 March 2020.

11. For an in-depth analysis of Korihor’s life and death, see Noel Hudson, “Insights into the Story of Korihor Based on Intertextual Comparisons,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024), 223–42, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/insights-into-the-story-of-korihor-based-on-intertextual-comparisons/. See also Ellis, “The Rise and Fall of Korihor.”

12. It is exactly 113 pages in “Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, circa August 1829–circa January 1830,” Joseph Smith Papers, https://josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/printers-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-august-1829-circa-january-1830.

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