In
an effort to put all this of the previous seven posts into the right
perspective, let us take a closer look at Alma 63 and Mormon’s meaning of the words
he chose in abridging Alma’ record (meaning is inserted within the text to make
its reading more accurate and more understandable without changing anything
Mormon wrote.
The first part of this
chapter covers the period of 55 B.C., or the year that Moroni died, and which
was the commencement of the thirty and sixth year of the reign of the judges
over the people of Nephi, Alma’s second son, Shiblon took possession of the
sacred things [the records from Nephi down to the present, including the brass
plates, and Urim and Thummim] which Alma had entrusted to Shiblon’s older
brother, Helaman. Now Shiblon was a just man, who walked uprightly before God, and
observed to do good continually, to keep the commandments of the Lord his God,
as did his brother, Helaman.
In the following year, 54
BC, or thirty and seventh year of the
reign of the judges, there was a large company of men, even to the amount of five
thousand and four hundred men, with their wives and their children, departed
out of the land of Zarahemla into the land which was northward [this amounted
to 5,400 men + 5,400 wives + 5,000 to 10,000 children = 15,000 to
20,000 people overall], departed out of the land of Zarahemla into the land
which was northward, [that is, a land beyond the Land Northward, across the
North Sea, to a relatively unknown land].
A shipwright named Hagoth,
an exceedingly curious man who was an artisan, and expert in his trade, built
the first of several ships which was an exceedingly
large ship [No ship he built could have held 15,000 to 20,000 people, plus
their provisions; therefore, he built several ships—we know of six, but far more
were probably constructed]. He built these ships on the northernmost point of
the Land Southward in the borders of the land Bountiful by the land Desolation,
which was the southernmost point of the Land Northward, where he launched his
ships into the west sea by the narrow neck that separated the land Southward
from the land Northward. Many of the 5,400 Nephites, along with their wives and
children, including their provisions, who entered the ship, and took their
course northward in this thirty and seventh year, or 54 B.C.
In the following year, 53
B.C., while Hagoth was building other ships, the first ship returned, after
leaving off those emigrants carried northward earlier. And many more people
went aboard, along with their wives, children and provisions, and they also
sailed northward; however, they were never heard of more, and it was supposed
that they were drowned in the depths of the sea, evidently because this ship
never returned, and the land “that was northward,” was not part of the Land of
Promise, and not in contact with the Land of Promise so no contact was
forthcoming. In addition, another of Hagoth’s ships sailed in that year, only
this one took a course that no one knew about, that is, the destination of this
ship was unknown, because it also never returned to tell the tale.
Obviously, this ship did
not sail north to the land which was
northward [beyond the North Sea] as the others had done. Nor would it have
sailed south, since that would have been toward the Lamanite lands which were
completely populated. They could not have sailed east from the west sea, where
Hagoth’s shipwright business, docks, and boat launching facilities were
located. That left only sailing west. The currents from Mexico would take a
ship westward to the Philippines; from Central America to Indonesia; but from
Peru/Ecuador would take the immigrants to the South Sea Islands of Samoa and
much of Polynesia.
During the following year,
52 B.C., many people went into the land northward overland, on foot, and in 51
B.C., during the thirty and ninth year of the reign of the judges, Shiblon died
and Corianton had gone forth to the land northward in a ship to carry forth
provisions unto the people who had gone forth into that land, and was
unavailable to receive the sacred records, therefore it became expedient for
Shiblon [before his death, and as the custodian of the sacred records] to
confer those sacred things upon his nephew, the son of Helaman who was also
called Helaman.
Prior to this time, the
first Helaman had all those engravings which were in his possession written and
sent forth among the children of men throughout all the land, save it were
those parts which had been commanded by Alma should not go forth—no doubt, that
part of the record which was sealed as indicated in the Book of Ether [This
might suggest that the 5,400 men, along with their wives and children, had
access to the records Helaman had written down and distributed to all the
Nephites, thus, they would have taken such records with them as they emigrated
to other lands].
Now, in 51 B.C., all the
sacred records were entrusted to Helaman the younger, including the sacred,
sealed portion. Also, during these years, there were some who dissented and
apostatized from the Church and left the community of the Nephites and aligned
themselves with the Lamanites, and stirred up the Lamanites [Apostates
from the true church, in every age, have always stirred up anger and created
persecution for the true believers (the Saints of God] making them angry with
the Nephites, which led to the Lamanites invading Nephite lands with a large
army. The invasion was met by Moronihah and the Nephite army which defeated the
Lamanites in a lengthy war that stretched into the following year, killing many
Lamanites in the process and finally driving them back into their own lands.
And thus ended the account
of Alma, the Younger, and his son, Helaman, and also Shiblon.
Now, it might be of
interest to know that from all of this, there is very little written about the
man Hagoth. We only know that he built ships, at least one of them exceedingly
large, and while his ships sailed to their destinations, Hagoth remained in his
shipyard building more ships. To lay claim, as so many theorists have done, that
Hagoth sailed away in one of his ships is neither substantiated or even
suggested by the scriptural record. This leads one to realize that other points
made by theorists may as well be untrue, or at least not included in the Book
of Mormon.
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