Ether

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The Book of Mormon > Ether

Subpages: Chapter 1a, Chapters 1b-2, 6, Chapters 3-5, Chapters 7-11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13a, Chapters 13b-15

                                                                 Next page: Chapter 1a


Historical setting

The book of Ether recounts the history of the Jaredites, descendants of people who came to the American continent from the Middle East several thousand years before the arrival of Lehi's colony, and were destroyed as a people sometime before the reign of King Mosiah.

Brief outline and summary

The relationship of the book of Ether to the rest of the Book of Mormon is discussed at Book of Mormon: Unities. The book of Ether can be outlined broadly as follows:

• Prologue, origins, and genealogy (1a)
I. Jared & Brother: Jaredites established in the land (1b-6)
• Narrative (1b-2)
• America as a choice land (2:8-12)
• Faith to receive knowledge and enter into the presence of the Lord (3-5)
• Narrative (6)
II. Centuries of kings, prophets, secret combinations, and destructions (7-11)
• Narrative (7-11)
• Warning to fight against secret combinations (8:20-26)
I. Coriantumr & Ether: Jaredites destroyed from off the land (12-15)
• Faith precedes blessing; humility, hope, and charity (12)
• America as home to the New Jerusalem (13a)
• Narrative (13b-15)

Chapters 1b-6, containing 5,304 words in English translation, follow Jared and his brother as the first generation settles in America. Chapters 12-15, containing 5,201 words, follow the prophet Ether and the king Coriantumr as the last generation is destroyed. The remaining middle third, containing 5,738 words, covers all the intervening centuries of Jaredite history.

Ether particularly addresses the issue of at what point a society becomes "ripe" in iniquity, the susceptibility of centralized governmental power to attack by secret societies, and the desirability of faith. As elsewhere in the scriptures, Ether dwells on the extremes.

The major divisions of Ether are discussed separately on the following subpages: Chapter 1a, Chapters 1b-2, 6, Chapters 3-5, Chapters 7-11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13a, Chapters 13b-15.


Detailed discussion

Direct address to the reader

Moroni several times directly addresses the reader and makes express doctrinal points, twice according to commandment. These are points that Moroni makes sure cannot be overlooked, and these points should therefore have a significant influence on the interpretation of the entire book of Ether.

  1. Ether 2:8-12 - Moroni tells the Gentiles that "we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land," that it is a choice land and that those who live upon it will be blessed while they serve God, and swept off when they are ripe in iniquity.
  2. Ether 4:6-19 - In obedience to a commandment from God, Moroni exhorts both Jew and Gentile to come unto Christ to obtain knowledge (immediately after relating how the Brother of Jared was redeemed and brought into the Lord's presence through faith and knowledge). He also states that the Brother of Jared's vision of world history will not be disclosed until the Gentiles repent, but that the account in Revelation of John's vision will begin to unfold when the Book of Mormon comes forth.
  3. Ether 5:1-6 - Moroni also tells Joseph Smith not to attempt to open the sealed portion of the plates containing the Brother of Jared's vision and that the Book of Mormon plates themselves will be shown to some who help in bringing the Book of Mormon forth.
  4. Ether 7:5 - Moroni notes in passing that a usurper taking the king captive fulfilled the Brother of Jared's warning (6:23) that monarchy leads into captivity.
  5. Ether 8:20-26 - Moroni states that the Lord commands those who read the Book of Mormon, when they see secret combinations, to put them down and not tolerate them.
  6. Ether 12:6-40 - Most of the discussion on faith, hope and charity in chapter 12 is Moroni's own exposition that he wants to be sure we understand. At the end he also expressly bears testimony to the Jews and Gentiles that he has seen Jesus face to face and commends the reader to seek him.

Secret combinations

The Jaredites suffer major destructions four times in the book of Ether (CITES). All four destructions follow the introduction of secret combinations, and the Jaredites never suffer destruction in their absence. In the Promised Land speech (2:8-12) we are given general principles regarding inheritance and destruction on the American continent. In the secret combinations speech (8:20-26) we are warned that if secret combinations take hold, society will be destroyed. Society will either hate or embrace secret combinations, and the result is a foregone conclusion based upon that decision. The secret combinations speech ends with a statement that secret combinations are to be done away so that the time may come that Satan has no more power over the hearts of men. This leads naturally in to the New Jerusalem prophecy in verses 13:1-12).

Group temporal salvation and individual spiritual salvation

The narrative portions of Ether generally address what a society must do to save itself, rather than what an individual must do to save him/herself. The church, ordinances, and specific commandments are never mentioned, nor does the narrative ever concern itself with the spiritual salvation of any particular individual. When the Lord chastises the Brother of Jared, it is as a representative of the entire group, the threatened punishment does not apply only to him, and that threatened destruction is death rather than damnation. Likewise, the suspense at the end of the book is not whether Coriantumr will repent in time to save himself spiritually, but whether he will do so in time to save society temporally.

Individual salvation is addressed in the "faith" divisions of Ether, chapters 3-5, 12. Ether presumes that a person already knows what they must do to repent. Ether is a "third temple speech" book. That is, it does not function on the level of Jacob's speech in Jacob 2-3 (or 1-2 Nephi) where people are exhorted to behave as they know they should. Nor does Ether function on the level of King Benjamin's speech (or Mosiah-Alma generally) where people are led to feel the Holy Ghost and have a change of heart. Rather, the faith speeches in Ether 3 and 12 (and in Moroni 7, 10) function on the level of the Lord's teachings in 3 Nephi 11-27 and assume that people already know all that and can move beyond faith as a principle of action and obedience to learning about faith as a principle of power to work miracles and enter into the presence of the Lord.

Ether 3 and 13 relate visions to Jaredites, the contents of which are not to be freely distributed. Ether 2 and 12 contain Moroni's own comments and bear no such restrictions. The climax of the first half of the opening narrative is the first promised land speech (2:8-12), a statement of what it takes to save a nation temporally. The high point of the entire opening narrative is the experience where the brother of Jared is brought into the presence of the Lord and experiences individual spiritual salvation (3-5). Moroni apparently sees a close connection between these two ideas and suggests that societies are saved temporally when some critical mass of its members are qualifying for individual temporal salvation.

Throughout Ether, political conditions, especially as regards secret societies, are presented as reflections of underlying societal conditions. The solution to bad situations is always a very generic "repent." Only in Moroni's sidebar speech in 8:20-26, the doctrinal climax of Ether, and in the narrative climax under the reigns of Riplakish and Morianton, do we see any exercise of volition in a specific course of action to change the prevailing political conditions.

Political leaders

This emphasis on society as a whole rather than particular individuals may result from the fact that this record was kept by the society's political leaders rather than its religious leaders. Unlike religious institutions, political institutions are not concerned with the content of the marketplace of ideas; they are concerned only with seeing that the marketplace functions and is available. Similarly, God will not intervene to destroy, and has commanded us to support (AF 11), political institutions as long as that marketplace functions, thus allowing free agency (AF 12). Hence, Moroni's account of Jaredite history does not dwell at length on the content of Christ's Gospel as does Mormon's account of Nephite history. As long as society ensures the existence of free agency, society may save itself from destruction at God's hand, regardless of whether any particular individual, or any member of society at all, chooses to take advantage of it and save him/herself.

Throughout Ether, political conditions, especially as regards secret societies, are presented as reflections of underlying societal conditions. The solution to bad situations is always a very generic "repent." Only in Moroni's sidebar speech in 8:20-26, the doctrinal climax of Ether, and in the narrative climax under the reigns of Riplakish and Morianton, do we see any exercise of volition in a specific course of action to change the prevailing political conditions.

The Brother of Jared warns about the evils of monarchy, power from the top down and a lure or prize to the ambitious, while Moroni warns of the evils of secret societies, power from the ground up. Com II may be intended to show that secret societies, which derive their strength from the bottom up rather than vice versa, are the more potent of the two.

Wickedness

Free agency requires that a person have both a correct understanding of what his/her choices are and the liberty to act on those choices. The Book of Ether never mentions false or competing ideologies. The Jaredites know the truth and either accept or reject it knowingly. Nor does Ether mention divisions in society based on wealth, religious inclination, genealogy, etc. We know they exist from the mention of Morianton raising an army of outcasts, but that is not Moroni's point. As the picture is painted for us, the Jaredites never have to make hard choices when deciding whether to obey God as did the faithful Nephites on the eve of Christ's birth. When we are told that the Jaredites killed the prophets, the emphasis is on the hardness of their hearts rather than the difficult lot of a righteous prophet in a wicked society. Jaredite society thus exists in an environment of complete moral freedom with its knowledge of the gospel and the lack of any obstacles to its practice other than individual desire. Wickedness, then, is not the result of external conditions, such as the false traditions of the Lamanites. Rather, it is knowing and open rebellion motivated by worldly enticements. The issue in the book of Ether is not what it takes to obey God's Plan, but simply whether the Jaredites want to.

In the Nephite history secret societies are depicted as an external threat to the ability of the righteous to live as they should in a fractured society. In Ether, because society is depicted as monolithic, secret societies are an internal sickness, a result of what the people are like rather than an environmental condition. In Ether secret societies seem to disappear rather easily any time the people repent. It is true that Com II fought against them without success, but that just means the king was out of touch with his more wicked subjects. Jaredite society was never convulsed in an attempt to eradicate them as was the case with the Gadianton robbers, only as the result of having embraced them.

In summary, the two big questions throughout the Book of Ether are whether society as a whole will temporally save itself, and whether society feels like it.

Two answers: it is an aggregation of individuals & you must call the shots to secret combinations & kings.

Relation to other scriptures

Related books and chapters

The relationship of Ether to the rest of the Book of Mormon is discussed at The Book of Mormon

Moroni provides four "great faith sermons" at the end of the Book of Mormon, two in Ether that clearly form a pair (Ether 3-5 and Ether 12), and two more in Moroni that just as clearly form another pair (Moroni 7 and Moroni 10). All four sermons talk about faith as more than just a principle of action leading to obedience. Rather, these four sermons assume that the listener is already trying to be righteous, and so address faith in connection with hope and charity as a door to exaltation and as a principle of power that allows one to exercise gifts of the spirit and work miracles. These four faith sermons can all be read as a group since they were all written or edited by a single author and all address a single general topic.

Parallel passages

Previous editions

The original 1830 edition of Ether was divided into only six chapters (I-VI). For the 1879 edition Parley Pratt further divided those six into the fifteen chapters (1-15) still used today. • I: 1-4 • II: 5 • III: 6-8 • IV: 9-11 • V: 12 • VI: 13-15

Complete outline and page map

Items in blue or purple text indicate hyperlinked pages that address specific portions of Ether.

Ether

■ Prologue, origins, and genealogy (1a)


I. Jared & Brother: Jaredites established in the land (1b-6)

A. Land journey (1:33-2:7)
a. questions and answers about scattering and traveling to a land of promise (34-43)
b. gathering food supplies for the journey (2:1-4)
c. Lord leads Jaredites toward promised land (4-7)
• We can behold: America as a choice land (2:8-12)
B. Building boats to cross the ocean (2:13-25)
c. Lord chastises for three hours because no progress for four years (13-15)
b. building boats for the water journey (16-17)
a. questions and answers about light and air while traveling in boats (18-25)
C. Faith to receive knowledge and enter into the presence of the Lord (3-5)
• Brother of Jared redeemed from the fall through faith (3:1-20)
• he requests in prayer that the Lord touch sixteen stones with finger (1-5)
• he sees the finger of the Lord because of his great faith (6-12)
• he is redeemed and brought back into Christ's presence because of his knowledge (13-20)
• Knowledge and redemption available through Holy Ghost on conditions of faith, repentance, and baptism (3:21-5:6)
• vision received of all mankind because of faith, instruction to seal it up until Christ's ministry, two stones (3:21-28)
• vision disclosed to Nephites after Christ's ministry, then again sealed up because of unbelief, two stones (4:1-5)
Moroni commanded to say: (4:6-19)
• vision will again be disclosed only when Gentiles exercise faith and repent (6-12)
• come unto Christ to receive hidden knowledge, John's revelation is now unfolding (13-19)
• the Lord will confirm the testimony of Three Witnesses who will see the Book of Mormon plates (5:1-6)
B. Crossing the ocean in boats (6:1-12a)
• stones, food supplies and people aboard boats for journey (1-4)
• wind, protected, Noah (5-8)
• praise God the whole way (9)
• light, protected, Noah (10-12a)
A. Settling on the promised land (6:12b-7:3a)
a. multiply, walk humbly, and prosperous (12b-18)
b. stewardship accounting of leadership (19-21)
b. four sons refuse kingship, people choose king which will lead to captivity (22-27)
a. prosperous, walk humbly, and multiply (6:27-7:3a)


II. Centuries of kings, prophets, secret combinations, and destructions (7-11)

■ Shule: is protected and in turn protects the prophets, no destruction (7:3b-27)
• Shule restores kingdom to his father (3b-13)
• Nimrah restores second half of kingdom to Shule (14-22)
• Shule protects prophets from the people (23-27)
■ Omer: secret combinations introduced, destruction #1 (8:1-9:15a)
A. Secret combinations introduced (8:1-19)
• Omer brougt into captivity and restored to throne, Jared repents (1-6)
• daughter of Jared suggests a secret combination (7-12)
• Akish's oath initiates the secret combination (13-19)
B. Moroni commanded to warn against: secret combinations (8:20-26)
A. Secret combinations result in destruction (9:1-15a)
• king Omer warned to flee (1-3)
• Akish kills his father in law Jared (4-6)
• Akish kills his son, another son flees (7-9)
• other sons rebel, secret combinations kill all but thirty people (10-12)
• Omer restored as king of a remnant (13-15a)
■ Prosperity in a choice land, oppression, destruction #2 until people repent (9:15b-10:29)
a. Emer: prosperity in a choice land (15b-22)
b. Coriantum and Com: minimal detail (23-25)
c. Heth: embraces secret combinations and persecutes prophets, destruction by famine and serpents until people repent (26-35)
d. Shez: descendant remembers the destruction of his fathers and builds up a righteous kingdom (10:1-4)
c. Riplakish: oppresses the people with taxation and servitude until they rise up against him (5-8)
d. Morianton: descendant eases the people's burden but is personally wicked (9-13a)
b. Kim, Levi, Corom: minimal detail (13b-18)
a. Lib: serpents destroyed, prosperity in a choice land (19-29)
■ Captivity, prophets withdraw, destruction #3 until people repent (10:30-11:23)
a. Hearthom and descendants in captivity (30-31)
• Com: protects prophets but cannot overcome secret combinations (10:32-11:3)
• Shiblom: prophets killed by usurper and ignored because of secret combinations, destruction by war and famine until people repent (4-9)
• Ahah and Ethem: prophets ignored and withdraw (10-14a)
a. Moron and descendants in captivity until Ether (14b-23)


I. Coriantumr & Ether: Jaredites destroyed from off the land (12-15)

■ Faith precedes blessing; humility, hope, and charity (12)
• Faith precedes blessing (1-21)
a. Ether cannot be restrained from preaching faith, repentance, and hope (1-5)
b. faith precedes witness and miracles (6-18)
a. Brother of Jared could not be kept from within the veil because of his faith (19-21)
• Humility, hope, and charity (22-41)
a. Moroni: apprehension at his weakness in writing compared to speaking (22-25)
b. Lord: Gentiles must be humble (26-28)
c. Moroni: the Lord works according people's faith, Brother of Jared (29-31)
c. Moroni: hope and charity (32-35)
b. Lord: Moroni has been humble (36-37)
a. Moroni: closing testimony of his writing and of Christ (38-41)
■ America as home to the New Jerusalem (13a)
■ Coriantumr & Ether: Jaredites destroyed from off the land - Narrative (13b-15)
• Ether's warning to avoid destruction by repenting (13:13-22)
a. Ether rejected, views destruction from hiding (13-14)
b. wars between secret combinations and king (15-16)
c. no one repents (17)
b. wars between secret combinations and king (18-19)
a. Ether prophesies final destruction and in hiding, no one repents (20-22)
• Coriantumr tries to avoid destruction by fighting four usurpers (13:23-14:31)
a. Corinatumr and Shared battle three days (23-30)
b. curse on the land (13:31-14:2)
c. Coriantumr and Gilead battle in Akish and Moron (3-8)
d. self-destruction within secret combinations (9-10)
c. Coriantumr and Lib II battle in Moron and Akish (11-16)
b. fear of Shiz sweeping the earth (17-25)
a. Coriantumr and Shiz battle three days (26-31)
• Coriantumr tries to avoid destruction by negotiating, destruction #4 fulfilled over eight days (15:1-34)
a. Coriantumr sees that prophecy is being fulfilled, tries to avoid destruction by negotiating (1-5)
b. battle at seashore, Coriantumr faints (6-11)
c. camping four years to gather strength (12-15a)
d. days 1-2 of final battle (15b-17)
e. Coriantumr again tries to avoid destruction by negotiating (18-19)
d. days 3-6 of final battle (20-26)
c. days 7-8 of final battle, Coriantumr's group flees (27-29a)
b. Shiz and Coriantumr both faint, Coriantumr kills Shiz (29b-32)
a. Ether's witness that prophesied destruction is fulfilled (33-34)

Questions for further study and reflection

  • Click the edit link above and to the right to add questions

Footnotes


Additional resources

1830 edition of the Book of Mormon: Ether



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