Pahoran is the third in a sequence of chief judges following the reign of Mosiah, the last of the Nephite kings. The first judge is Alma the Younger, who is succeeded by Pahoran’s father, Nephihah. Pahoran succeeds his father, Nephihah, as chief judge and governor in Zarahemla around 67 BC. Pahoran’s tenure lasts from around 67 BC to his death around 52 BC, when he is succeeded by his son, also named Pahoran (see Helaman 1:1–2, 5). When Pahoran I takes office, he does so “with an oath and sacred ordinance to judge righteously, and to keep the peace and the freedom of the people, and to grant unto them their sacred privileges to worship the Lord their God, yea, to support and maintain the cause of God all his days, and to bring the wicked to justice according to their crime” (Alma 50:39). In all respects, Pahoran lives up to his solemn oath of office throughout his sixteen-year tenure, having worked with Moroni, commander of Nephite forces, to restore peace to the land in the wake of the seditious internal rebellion by the “king-men” (Alma 51:5)—those seeking to overthrow the democratic government of the land in favor of a kingdom allied with the Lamanite forces.
Pahoran is perhaps best known for his correspondence with Moroni, who at one point in the military campaign accuses him of malfeasance and disloyalty for not sending vitally needed men and supplies to bolster the campaign against the enemy. When Moroni subsequently learns that Pahoran has been deposed by traitors, Moroni then hastens to his aid and the two powerful leaders collaborate in a major campaign, lasting some two years, to rid the capital of the despotic “king-men” faction, to repel the invading Lamanites, and to restore peace and order to the realm once again. Thus Pahoran returns to his judgment seat, Moroni retires to his home in peace, and Helaman, leader of the two thousand stripling warriors, returns to the task of regulating the affairs of the Church in the land for a season before going to his heavenly reward (see Alma 62:42–52). We remember Pahoran as a defender of democratic ideals, a champion of law and order, a man of courage and honor, and one grounded in the eternal principles of gospel ideals.