“According to the Writings of the Kings”

Brant Gardner

The constraints of space that Jarom notes are corroborated by the very short entries of the next several writers. However, the last writer has a more extended entry, so Jarom presumably could have written at greater length. Apparently, however, the dominant feature of Nephite society was its wars with the Lamanites, records of which are available on the “kingly” records.

Culture: Jarom’s observation that the other plates are “according to the writings of the kings, or those which they caused to be written” describes a change in record-keeping from Nephi, who kept the records personally. By Jarom’s time, Nephite society had become sufficiently complex and stratified that the kings delegate the record-keeping function. The increasing complexity and stratification of society was a theme against which Jacob had preached.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3

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