“[DowDell] effectively shifted the Sea South to south of the Land
of Nephi where no body of water is ever
referenced - neither directly or indirectly.”
As has been written here many times, Jacob, speaking to the
Nephites while Nephi recorded his words, said, “And now, my beloved
brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge
concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not
hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven
out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for
the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea… wherefore
as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited
also by our brethren” (2 Nephi 10:20-21).
A depiction of the four seas in the Land of Promise, which was an
isle in the Sea
While Covino wants to place the Sea
South in the middle of the Land of Promise, Jacob shows that the Land of
Promise was an island “of the sea,” which should suggest even to the most unknowledgeable,
that an island, by definition, is surrounded on all sides by the Sea, and as
such, there would be water in all four cardinal directions, North, East, South,
and West. Thus is must be concluded that there was a North Sea (or Sea North),
East Sea (or Sea East), South Sea (or Sea South), and West Sea (or Sea West).
Now, Covino, places all his eggs in one
basket, claiming that everyone who discusses the Sea South places the sea “to
the south” of the Land of Promise. That might seem normal to the rest of us,
but Covina wants to place the Sea South between the Land Northward and the Land
Southward, “where the sea divides the land” (Ether 10:20).
Land Southward was nearly
surrounded by water except for a narrow neck of land (Alma 22:32)
However, the land of Nephi ran from the east sea to the west sea (Alma
22:27); the narrow strip of wilderness ran from the east sea to the west sea
(Alma 22:27), and the Land of Zarahemla stretched almost to the Sea East (Alma
31:3), yet was nearly surrounded by water, along with the Land of Nephi, except
for the narrow neck of land that separated the Land Southward from the Land
Northward (Alma 22:32).
Thus it can be concluded that the Land Southward was
surrounded by water, except for a narrow neck of land, which divided the land Northward from the Land Southward and kept the Land Southward from being completely surrounded by water.
Coming back to Covino’s placement, he relies solely on the
only mention in all of the Book of Mormon about the Sea South. “And
it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land
southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to
cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from
the sea west to the sea east” (Helaman 3:8).
Before discussing this further, let’s
consider the time frame, who is writing, and where he is located. The year is
46 B.C., the location is Zarahemla, the Nephite Capitol, where all the prophets
seemed to have lived, and the person is Helaman, son of Helaman (Alma 63:11),
who was in possession of all the records (Alma 63:12) Shiblon, his Uncle,
entrusted to his hand. In the Land Southward, eleven years after Helaman had
died, and ten years after Moroni’s death, there was much contention in the land
after several years of peace (Helaman 3:1-2). This contention caused a great
many to leave the Landf of Zartahemla and travel into the Land Northward “to
inherit the land” (Helaman 3:3). They went as far as the Land of Many waters,
and spread out all over the old Jaredite lands (Helaman 3:4-7).
Helaman writes that these people “did
multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land
northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the
whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea
east” (Helaman 3:8).
While Covino tries to limit this
spreading out to only the Land Northward, Helaman, who is in the City of
Zarahemla writing this down, is talking about the entire Land of Promise--"the whole earth." In
the very next sentence, he limits his scope only to the Land Northward when he
wrote: “And the people who were in the land northward did dwell in tents, and
in houses of cement, and they did suffer whatsoever tree should spring up upon
the face of the land that it should grow up, that in time they might have timber
to build their houses, yea, their cities, and their temples, and their
synagogues, and their sanctuaries, and all manner of their buildings (Helaman
3:9). Three sentences later, Helaman again refers to those in the Land
Southward where he was located: “And it came to pass that there were many of
the people of Ammon, who were Lamanites by birth, did also go forth into this
land” (Helaman 3:12), and follows that with an overall comment about the
Nephite people, basically in the Land Southward, when he says, “And now there
are many records kept of the proceedings of this people, by many of this
people, which are particular and very large, concerning them” (Helaman 3:13).
The next several sentences (verses) also deals with the people overall, and
mostly those in the Land Southward covering a two year span, concluding with:
“And in this year there was continual rejoicing in the land of Zarahemla, and
in all the regions round about, even in all the land which was possessed by the
Nephites” (Alma 3:31). Right up to the time Helaman dies in 38 B.C. (Helaman
3:37).
The point is, Helaman’s writing, except
for a few intervening sentences about those who went north, is all about the
Nephites in the Land Southward. Covino cannot claim that the intervening
sentences separates the people in the Land Northward and placing the emphasis
of Helaman’s words in 3:8 solely to those. He was talking about the Nephites
overall throughout the Land of Promise in all this writing.
If the Sea South was located north of the Land Southward, what would
the sea be called to the south of the Land Southward since the Land of Promise
was an island? (2 Nephi 10:20)
When Helaman discussed the Sea South in
Helaman 3:8, it would be ridiculous for him to refer to a body of water to his
north, a body of water to the north of the Land Southward where he lived and
was located, as the Sea South. That
would not make any sense at all!
Finally, Covino’s statement: “Sea South to south of the Land
of Nephi where no body of water is ever
referenced - neither directly or indirectly” again ought to
re-read Jacob’s discussion of the Nephites being on an island of the sea! If
that is not a reference to the four cardinal points of water around the Land of
Promise, then what is? Rather, it should be stated that there is no body of
water to the North of the Land Southward referenced anywhere in the scriptural
record other than the sea that divides the land--and since we are talking about an island, the Land of Promise would have seas all around it!
(See
the next post, “More Covino Comments Answered,” for more errors in his
thinking, judgment and understanding of the scriptural record as well as
Western Hemisphere history)
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