“I Prayed Unto Him with Many Long Strugglings for My Brethren the Lamanites”

Alan C. Miner

According to John Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper, in his record Enos appears to allude to the ancestor after whom his father was named: the ancient patriarch Jacob, who was renamed Israel by "a man" with whom he wrestled all night (Genesis 32:24-28). Enos may have had this event in mind when he wrote of "the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins" (Enos 1:2).

When Enos wrote about his wrestling, he evidently was referring not only to his struggle to overcome sin but also to his prayers for both the Lamanites and the Nephites (Enos 1:9-18). He wrote of "struggling in the spirit" while praying for his own people (Enos 1:10) and noted that he "prayed unto [God] with many long strugglings, for [his] brethren, the Lamanites" (Enos 1:11). Similar terminology is found in Alma 8:10, where we read that "Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance." These two examples suggest that wrestling with God can refer to prayer in behalf of those who have fallen away from the truth.

In similar fashion, Jacob may have been praying for his brother Esau during his wrestle with the angel. At the time, Jacob was returning to his homeland after a sojourn of two decades in the land of Syria. He had left on bad terms with Esau, who wanted to kill him (Genesis 27:41-45). Now, in the midst of his efforts to placate Esau with gifts, Jacob prayed that God would deliver him and his family from his brother (Genesis 32:9-12).

The Nephites and Lamanites for whom Enos prayed were very much like Jacob and Esau. Nephi, like Jacob, had to flee with his family because his elder brothers Laman and Lemuel sought to kill him (2 Nephi 5:1-7). Nephi's people were settled and industrious, constructing a temple and other buildings (2 Nephi 5:15-17), while the Lamanites became "an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey" (2 Nephi 5:24). Enos later described the Lamanites as "wild and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in the tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax" (Enos 1:20) and also that they sought to destroy the Nephites (Enos 1:14).

Similarly, the Bible describes Esau as "a cunning hunter, a man of the field" (Genesis 25:26), who loved to hunt with the bow (Genesis 27:1-5). Before God forgave his sins, Enos "went to hunt beasts in the forests," where he remembered the words of his father, which prompted him to seek God's forgiveness (Enos 1:3-4). By describing himself as a hunter, Enos may have been comparing his preconversion self to the Lamanites and to Esau. [John A. Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper, "Jacob and Enos: Wrestling before God" in FARMS Update, No. 146, in Insights, FARMS, Vol. 21, 2001, pp. 2-3]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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