“I Went Again with Four of My Men into the City”

Brant Gardner

Because Zeniff could find the campsite of the first expedition, he was obviously not merely moving at random and had some mental map he was following. This campsite must have been close enough to the city of Nephi to be reached by spies (first mission) and an ambassadorial party (second mission), but sufficiently far away that the inhabitants would not detect them. It must also have been a defensible location, since security would have been important to Zeniff’s homesteaders, confronted as they were with the possibility that the treaty might be rejected.

Culture: Zeniff takes four men, a number that is significant in Mesoamerican documents from that area (though from later periods). However, with Zeniff as leader, the party consisted of five men. In later Mesoamerican thought, five is also an important symbolic number, since it represents the center, with the four corners of the earth surrounding it. Could five have been an equally significant number this early? Perhaps taking four men with him emphasized Zeniff as the center, the leader.

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

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