Ether Finished His Record

Alan C. Miner

After all the battles were over, and Coriantumr was the only Jaredite leader left, the Lord told Ether to go forth, apparently from his "cavity of a rock" (see Ether 13:13-14). Moroni writes:

And he [Ether] went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he finished his record; (and the hundredth part I have not written) and he hid them in a manner that the people of Limhi did find them. (Ether 15:33)

The descriptions in Ether 13:14-14 and in Ether 15:33 seem to imply that Ether's cave (or wherever he was) was not very far from the scenes of the final battles. They also imply that he probably "finished his record" in the same area. The question then becomes, How did Ether hide them "in a manner that the people of Limhi did find them"? We are left to ponder. We might assume that the "24 plates of Ether" were probably deposited in or near his cave, and that Ether's cave was probably somewhere near the hill Ramah. Yet the record is silent. We are not only left to wonder about the fate of Ether, but in a large part with that of Coriantumr. One is only left to wonder, How long did they live? How far did they travel? And what did they do before they died. We are only told that "Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons" (Omni 1:21).

Note* The reader should also note that according to the commentary on Mosiah 8:7 and Mosiah 21:25, the hill Ramah(Cumorah) was apparently not more than 200 miles from the local land of Zarahemla where Mosiah1 "discovered the people of Zarahemla" (Omni 1:14). [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See the commentary on Omni 1:21]

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

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