A Cultural Perspective for the Book of Mormon ~ The Liahona

 

Soon, it was time to move on, but move on in what direction and to where? That was the great unknown. The group had already traveled beyond any areas Lehi might have know from experience. They had to travel a route where they could find water, but the ancient Frankincense Trail was anywhere from 12 to 48 miles wide. It would have been easy to get lost. 

 

Then one morning, Lehi awoke and found "a ball of curious workmanship" at the door of his tent. Nephi tells us that it was made of brass. Inside it were two spindles. One of them pointed the way they should go (see 1 Nephi 16:10). It wasn't a compass (although it has been so referred in the Book of Mormon itself) because the spindles didn't point to the magnetic north. Rather, the spindle showed them the way the Lord wanted them to go. We learn later in the Book of Mormon that words of guidance occasionally appeared on the ball. (1 Nephi 16: 26, 27) It only worked when the family was righteous. (1 Nephi 16:28) When the two eldest brothers were plotting and scheming (which occurred often enough to be problematic) the ball did not work.  The ball of curious workmanship not only kept them geographically on-track, but spiritually on-track as well.

They called the ball the Liahona. LDS scholar, Dr. Hugh Nibley, offered these insights into the meaning of the word:

“Many people have dealt with the word Liahona. We had a teacher from Hebrew University here for a few years…. His name was Shunary. He never joined the [LDS] Church, but the first thing that fascinated him was this name Liahona. He traced it back to the queen bee, the leader of bees swarming in the desert. When bees swarm, that's Liahona. I took it from a different one. Yah is, of course, God Jehovah [the yah sound in God's name, Yahweh]. Liyah means the possessive [as in God owns]; [the sound hona means guidance] "To God is the guidance," - Liyahhona. That's just a guess; don't put it down. But it's a pretty good guess anyway". (Hugh Nibley, Teaching of the Book of Mormon, First Semester pg. 116, BYU)

Scholar and author, Jonathan Curci, writes: I show it [the word: liahona] to mean quite literally "to Yahweh is the whither" or, by interpretation, "direction of-to the Lord." [1]

Whether it refers to God's guidance or the inexplicable guidance given to a swarm of honeybees, the Liahona served to keep Lehi's family on the geographical and spiritual paths that would lead them to their new and promised home.

[1] For an in-depth look at the etymology of the word, liahona, go to the article Liahona: "The Direction of the Lord": An Etymological Explanation by Jonathan Curci. Published by the Maxell Insitute, BYU, Provo, UT http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=16&num=2&id=446

Text copyright June 2013, Gebara Education

Picture of Lehi finding the Liahona from www.lds.org

Picture of an artist's rendition of the Liahona from www.barriomiramar.blogia.com