The Order of Nehors was a religious faction that took its name and doctrine from Nehor, who was executed for the murder of Gideon, a teacher who had withstood him with the words of God. Its adherents were found among Nephites and among Nephite dissenters living with the Lamanites.
Nehor preached that every priest and teacher ought to become popular and be supported by the people rather than labor with their hands, and that all mankind would be saved at the last day, so that they need not fear but could “lift up their heads and rejoice” (Alma 1:3–4). Alma identified this as the first introduction of priestcraft among the Nephites, warning that if priestcraft were enforced it “would prove their entire destruction” (Alma 1:12).
In the city of Ammonihah the judge who tried Alma and Amulek was “after the order and faith of Nehor,” and the lawyers, judges, priests, and teachers who came to question them in prison were of the profession of Nehor (Alma 14:16–18). The people of Ammonihah remained hard-hearted, ascribed Alma and Amulek’s power to the devil, and did not believe in the repentance of their sins, being of the profession of Nehor (Alma 15:15).
After the destruction of Ammonihah, the region was called the Desolation of Nehors, because those who were slain were of the profession of Nehor and their lands were left desolate (Alma 16:11). When Aaron preached among the Lamanites, he taught in synagogues the Amalekites had built after the order of the Nehors, for many of the Amalekites and Amulonites held to that order (Alma 21:4).
Amalekites and Amulonites made up the greatest number of the Lamanites who killed the converts among the people of the Lord, most of them after the order of the Nehors. Among those who joined the people of the Lord, none were Amalekites, Amulonites, or of the order of Nehor; the converts were descendants of Laman and Lemuel (Alma 24:28–29).