The Elements of a Covenant-Making Ceremony

John W. Welch

At this point, we enter into Section 6 of Benjamin’s speech.

What happens next in a covenant-making context? In the book King Benjamin’s Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom" there is a chart (Figures 2, 3) that shows that treaties or covenant-making ceremonies as they are called in the ancient world, had several common elements.

Figure 2 John W. Welch and Greg Welch, "Treaty-Covenant Pattern in the Old Testament and Benjamin’s Speech," in Charting the Book of Mormon, chart 100.

First, in the recording of ancient covenant or treaty making ceremonies, there was typically some kind of historical preamble. Then there was a discussion about the antecedent history involving how the people got to where they were, and what the relationship had been between the parties who were going to enter into the covenant. Benjamin gave that antecedent relationship in chapter 2 where he spoke of how mankind was created out of the dust of the earth. God created everything, and that is part of their relationship.

Figure 3 John W. Welch and Greg Welch, "Benjamin’s and Mosiah’s Covenant Ceremonies Compared with Old Testament Rituals," in Charting the Book of Mormon, chart 101.

Then the terms of the covenant were stated in a contract mode. There were witnesses who wrote the names of the people entering into the covenant (we will address this later in the sixth chapter of Mosiah).

Next there were blessings and curses—blessings if the parties kept the covenant, and curses if they did not. And finally came time to write and deposit the covenant, making it a permanent, written record that people could keep and remember.

This pattern of covenant making is followed quite strictly in Benjamin’s speech. In section 6 of the speech (which is Mosiah 4:3–30), we find the stipulations with some of the promises of rewards for obedience and some of the curses if they did not keep the covenant.

Further Reading

Stephen D. Ricks, "Kingship, Coronation, and Covenant in Mosiah 1–6," in King Benjamin’s Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom", ed. John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1998), 233–276.

John W. Welch Notes

References