“He Dismissed the Multitude and They Returned, Every One, According to Their Families, to Their Own Houses”

Alan C. Miner

According to Hugh Nibley, another interesting point found at the end of the ceremonial gathering and king Benjamin's sermon is the statement, "he dismissed the multitude, and they returned, every one, according to their families, to their own houses" (Mosiah 6:3). The great assembly in the Mosaic law and throughout the ancient world is by families. Everybody had to come as a pilgrim and be dismissed to his home after that. "Thou shalt not celebrate the Passover within thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Everyone had to come to this event as a pilgrim. They sat by family groups in circles, every family with its back to every other, every family by itself. We are told this not only in the New Testament and the Old Testament but in the Talmud, too. In the last meeting when they take the meal, everyone must eat a piece of the meat at least as big as an olive, and they must eat it with a staff in their hand, their shoes on their feet, and their cloaks ready to go. Then they must leave when they are finished and not look back because it is a sacred place. It's mactus. This is the holy place where people meet commonly with the ancestors, gods, and everything else. I'm talking about an order beginning the Hierocentric rites on which I have written a good deal. There's a lot of stuff on this. If the place is mactus it's the place open to the other world. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, p. 13]

Mosiah 6:4 Mosiah began to reign in his father's [Benjamin's] stead (Major Nephite Leaders) [[Illustration]]: The Major Leaders During Nephite History. [Church Educational System, Book of Mormon Student Manual: Religion 121 and 122, 1989, p. 160]

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

References