Perhaps the most important part of these three verses is the note that Shez lived to an extremely old age, and begat Riplakish. This continues to confirm that the Jaredites practiced ultimogeniture, or the inheritance of the last-born son, rather than the first. The first son was Shez, and the comments about Shez the son are the reason that verse 4 begins with “his father,” referring to Shez, father of Shez, and father of Riplakish.
Riplakish is the epitome of a bad king. It wasn’t just that he “did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” but he was unfair to his people, laying upon them heavy taxes and conscripting labor for his own benefit.