The Beginning of the Fall of the Jaredite Nation

John W. Welch

Generally, even the wicked people in a community publicly follow the path of a righteous king. However, in this society, the wickedness became so strong that the king did not have much influence. Com was a righteous king who protected the prophets who were ostracized by the people. The next king was Com’s son, Shiblom, whose brother rebelled and drew the kingdom into “exceedingly great war” and “contentions in all the land” (verses 4 and 7). Worst of all, Shiblom’s brother killed all the prophets who were warning of impending destruction. Sure enough, severe destruction did follow, and sadly, just as the people began suffering enough that they began to repent, Shiblom was killed. Seth (presumably the heir of kingship and brother of Shiblom) lived as a captive the rest of his life. Seth’s wicked son, Aha, took over the kingship. The next few descendants of the kings ruled in great wickedness, until the prophets withdrew from the people. The record states that a succeeding king “did reign in [the previous king’s] stead” (11:14). That does not give much confidence that the many monarchical successions mentioned in the Jaredite record were normal and peaceful. After a period of rebellion, the kingdom was split in two between two unrighteous rulers—one of whom was Moron. Subsequently, Moron was overthrown and put in “captivity all the remainder of his days (verse 18). Moron’s son, Coriantor, also “dwelt in captivity all his days” (11:19).

John W. Welch Notes

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