“Kib Begat Corihor”

Alan C. Miner

The record states that Kib "begat Corihor." For some unmentioned reason, when Corihor was 32 years old, he "rebelled against his father, and went over and dwelt in the land of Nehor (Ether 7:4). Thus, geographically speaking, we might assume that the land of Nehor was "over" from the land of Moron. Furthermore, the land of Nehor was probably at a lower elevation because it says that after Corihor had begat many sons and daughters, and "drew away many people after him," that he "came up unto the land of Moron where the king dwelt" (Ether 7:5). Thus the land of Moron seems not only close to the land of Nehor, but it seems to be located in hills or mountains.

The reader might note that whoever the original writer of this information was (Ether or Moroni), they are using directional terms ("went" and "came") which might imply a reference point. But what is the reference point? Is it from where Moroni was writing? Is it from where Ether was writing? If Ether "hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people" (Ether 13:13), and if the final battle location of the Jaredites was near the hill Ramah (Ether 15:11), and if the hill Ramah "was the same hill where [Moroni's] father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord" (Ether 15:11), and if Moroni returned to the hill Cumorah (hill Ramah) in order to record the contents of the book of Ether on his plates (see Mormon 8:3-5; Ether 1:1-2), then the geographical reference terms ("came" and "went") for both Ether and Moroni not only might be the same, but they might offer some degree of geographical orientation. On the other hand, words such as "came" and "went" might not have been intended to imply any directional information at all other than conveying a general sense of going from one place to another. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]

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

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