The Record of Zeniff ~ Living in Shilom and Nephi

For the next few days, we will be talking about the records of the people of Zeniff.  This is one of those complexities of the Book of Mormon story because we are going back in time three generations to shortly after the time Mosiah I. when Zeniff led his people out of the Land of Nephi.  We are also moving geographically from Zarahemla in the lowlands back into the highlands of the Land of Nephi.

When the group first left Zarahemla, they were led by a blood-thirsty man who wanted to take back the Land of Nephi by force, slaying all of the Lamanite who were now living there.  Zeniff, a member of the group, and many others wanted to live in harmony with the Lamanites and not slay them.  Civil war erupted in the group and all but 50 were killed.  Those survivors returned to Zarahemla and, after resting and restocking their supplies, left again for the Land of Nephi under the leadership of Zeniff.

When they arrived in the City of Nephi, Zeniff approached the Lamanite king - whose name was Laman - and asked for living and farming land in the area.  King Laman gave them permission to settle in the City of Nephi (Kalminaljuyu) and the land along the northern shores of Lake Amatitlan in the area the Nephites called Shilom (Fructa).  The Lamanite king actually asked his own people to relocate from the City of Nephi to surrounding cities in the Guatemala Valley.

Zeniff's people were happy in this newly found friendship with the Lamanites.  In the words of Zeniff we read:

And we began to build buildings, and to repair the walls of the city, yea, even the walls of the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom.  And we began to till the ground, yea, even with all manner of seeds, with seeds of corn, and of wheat, and of barley, and with neas*, and with sheum*, and with seeds of all manner of fruits; and we did begin to multiply and prosper in the land. (Mosiah 9: 8-9)

But all was not well, as Zeniff and his people learned to their sorrow. There was method to King Laman's madness, which we shall discuss tomorrow.

* neas and sheum ~ In my search for the possible meanings for these words, I found almost all references consider them to be grains since they are grouped with other grains in the Mosiah quote above. Val Sederholm writes in his blog:

 

When the Prophet Joseph Smith translated the gold plates, he occasionally came across a word for which he was not able to give an English equivalent. In lieu of translation, he chose to give a transliteration of the word and to leave it at that. Left at that, it is a sign of authenticity for his work as a translator. (April 30, 2011 post)

 

He goes on to postulate that sheum may be the equivalent of shm', an Egyptian grain used to make bread.  One Egyptian bread grain with which I am personally familiar is kamut.  Kamut is a ancient grain used in bread making because of its ability to develop gluten. It is a heritage grain (not GMO) and many people who have a gluten intolerance can eat kamut.  (All of our wheat is GMO.) I have cooked with kamut and it is a delicious grain with a nutlike flavor.

 

Another Egyptian word that might transliterate as neas was a grain used in Ancient Egypt for beer making.  Perhaps neas were hops?

http://valsederholm.blogspot.com/2011/04/and-with-neas-and-with-sheum-mosiah-99.html

 

The Nephite Code at BlogSpot suggests that neas may refer to a super grain indigenous to South America, but unknown in 1830: quinoa.  Quinoa is a complete protein grain introduced to mainstream America in the last decade or so and is often eaten as a substitute for rice because it is more nutritious and has a low glycemic index.  Another South American grain not in use in North America to my knowledge is Kiwicha.  The blogger suggests that this might be sheum.

http://nephicode.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-were-neas-and-sheum.html

 

From the Mormon Dialogue Forum, I found a reference to a Hebrew word, sheuit:

 

Sheum ~ Has the same root as sheuit(תשעועי), beans. http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/56247-possible-hebrew-sources-for-nephite-words-neas-and-sheum/

 

Also from Mormon Dialog:

Posted 14 November 2011 - 12:59 PM

In a FARMS article Matthew Roper explains that sheum "is a perfectly good Akkadian cereal name . . . dating to the third millennium B.C., which in ancient Assyria referred to wheat, but in other regions of the Near East could be applied to other grains" (FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1997, p. 120). He notes that this word was not known to scholars until at least 1857, long after the book of Mormon had been published.

http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/56267-sheum-a-new-lead/

 

I think the Sederhom quote above says it best: there was no equivalent English word to which Joseph could relate, so he transliterated the original word to the best of his ability.  I, too, think this is a good testimony that the work is a translation and not an original 19th century document.  The fact that there are many possible sources for the words in ancient languages of the Near East seem to suggest that Joseph didn't simple make up those words.  But in the end, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter what the words mean.  A testimony of the Book of Mormon comes through the Holy Spirit.  I have such a testimony.

 

Copyright July 2013, Gebara Education

 

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