“Name of the Brother of Jared”

Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen

The brother of Jared is not identified by proper name in the Book of Mormon. However, the Prophet Joseph Smith indicated that his name was Mahonri Moriancumer (Times & Seasons, Vol. 2, No. 11, [Apr. 1, 1841], 362; Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 27 [May 1, 1892], 282; see Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1–4 vols., ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 235). It is instructive, in that regard, that the emigrating Jaredites, when they encamp on the seashore preparatory to their transit over the ocean, call the place Moriancumer (see Ether 2:13). At the end of his days, the brother of Jared—Mahonri Moriancumer—is distressed when the people of his colony request that one of the sons be anointed their king: “Surely this thing leadeth into captivity” (Ether 6:23). How prescient is his view, as the Jaredite nation unfolds over the generations under the leadership of its predominantly wicked kings, eventually falling into extinction by forsaking God.

Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2

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