Quarter of the Land

Recently I was asked about the term “quarter” as used in different places in the scriptural record. There seems to be some belief that a quarter of the land is the same as one fourth of a particular land mass. However, the Book of Mormon scriptures do not use the term “quarter” in that manner.

As an example, in Alma, the term is used several times, such as “And he caused that all the people in that quarter of the land should gather themselves together to battle against the Lamanites, to defend their lands and their country, their rights and their liberties…” [Alma 46:26].

“And Moroni also sent unto him, desiring him that he would be faithful in maintaining that quarter of the land, and that he would seek every opportunity to scourge the Lamanites in that quarter, as much as was in his power…” [Alma 52:10].

And now it came to pass in the commencement of the thirtieth year of the reign of the judges, on the second day in the first month, Moroni received an epistle from Helaman, stating the affairs of the people in that quarter of the land [Alma 56:1].

The term, “in that quarter of the land,” should not be construed to mean a geographical area divided into four parts, but according to the 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language as the term was known to Joseph Smith during his translation. In that dictionary, quarter is also described as “a particular region in a town, city or country; as all quarters of the city; in every quarter of the country or of the continent.” It is also defined as “to divide, to separate into parts. To divide into distinct regions or compartments.”

In fact, in the scripture stated above, Helaman goes on to say, “My dearly beloved brother, Moroni, as well in the Lord as in the tribulations of our warfare; behold, my beloved brother, I have somewhat to tell you concerning our warfare in this part of the land” [Alma 56:2].

“In that part of the land” is a much clearer understanding of “that quarter of the land” and should be recognized that Mormon wrote “quarter of the land” while Alma actually wrote “part of the land.”

Later Alma wrote: “Yea, and it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites did flee out of all this quarter of the land. But behold, they have carried with them many women and children out of the land” [Alma 58:30]. This term is used to describe an area where numerous cities and lands were located [Alma 58:32]. Alma goes on to write: “Behold, we do not know but what ye are unsuccessful, and ye have drawn away the forces into that quarter of the land…” [Alma 58:35].

When the term quarter is used in Helaman: “And there began to be much peace again in the land; and the people began to be very numerous, and began to scatter abroad upon the face of the earth, yea, on the north and on the south, on the east and on the west, building large cities and villages in all quarters of the land” [Mosiah 27:6], it is definitely used to mean all areas of the land, that is, all regions of the land.

In all these earlier instances, the term “quarter” would best be described as a particular region—the region the Lamanites were basically attacking, or where defenses needed to be developed. In the case of Halaman, the term is used to describe areas or regions of the land within a larger scope that could have been described as quarters of the overall Land of Promise (north and south, east and west).

There is also a tendency to insert other language when one believes he understands the use of quarter, such as the word quadrant—however, quadrant and quarter do not necessarily mean the same thing. The word quadrant means “the fourth part,” and typically the fourth part of a circle, either in the heavens or of the globe. Thus, we need to be careful placing cities within a quarter of the land when the scriptural record does not suggest quarters of the land as in one-fourth of the total land area.

The term quarters, other than in Alma, are used sparingly. Nephi uses them in an overall planetary concept: “from the four quarters of the earth” [1 Nephi 19:16] which was definitely the use of one-fourth of the area of the sea, which was a phrase Nephi quoted from the unknown prophet Zenos who wrote on the Brass Plates. And again “And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth…” [1 Nephi 22:25]. In both these cases, the term was used in an overall when God will remember and rescue his children from both the four quarters of the land, and the four quarters of the sea, which can easily be divided into hemispherical quadrants as shown in the image above.

This same use in 3 Nephi is described: “And as surely as the Lord liveth, will he gather in from the four quarters of the earth all the remnant of the seed of Jacob, who are scattered abroad upon all the face of the earth” [3 Nephi 5:24,26], and again “And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and then will I fulfill the covenant which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel” [3 Nephi 16:5], as well as in Ether “And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham” [Ether 13:11].

It would be easy to misinterpret this term “quarter,” but in no case in the scriptural record are we shown that any use of the term “quarter” (other than on a planetary basis) is used to describe quarter or quadrant (a specific area one-fourth of the total), but a much lesser region or area of the land.