Hugh Nibley
“The Jaredites, like their Asiatic relatives and unlike the Nephites, were thoroughgoing monarchists, and their monarchy is the well-known Asiatic despotism lacking none of the trimmings. Where could one find a more perfect thumbnail portrait of the typical Asiatic overlord than in the four verses that describe the reign of Riplakish? (Ether 10:5-8). The lechery and cruelty, the magnificence and the oppression are all there…Such is the practice, mentioned many times in the book [Hajji Baba], of keeping a king prisoner throughout his entire lifetime, allowing him to beget and raise a family in captivity, even though the sons thus brought up would be almost sure to seek vengeance for their parent and power for themselves upon coming of age. Thus Kib (Ether 7:7) was taken captive by his own son, begot yet other children in captivity, and died of old age, still a prisoner…It seems to us a perfectly ridiculous system, yet it is in accordance with the immemorial Asiatic usage.” (Lehi In The Desert / The World Of The Jaredites, p. 205)