Book Of Mormon Chronology: Mosiah I And Zeniff

[DonBradley]

Hey All,

I am working on what we can know of the "lost 116 pages" of the Book of Mormon. In the process of this research, some issues have arisen to which chronology is very important. This is particularly the case for the respective journeys of King Mosiah I from the land of Nephi to that of Zarahemla and of Zeniff from the land of Zarahemla to that of Nephi.

I have, of course, the annotations in our LDS Book of Mormon, where date-range estimates are given for these events. However, these estimates do not provide any of the chronological reasoning behind them. I've just been searching online, and found a series of rather unhelpful chronological resources: ones that make no mention at all of these major events, ones that merely repeat the dates from the published standard works (again without the data or logic behind them), and ones that give staggeringly broad ranges, such as placing Mosiah I's exodus between 420 BC and 130 BC.

Could anyone please point me to a more detailed and helpful source, with date estimates and the data and reasoning that goes into them? Or has anyone here done work that would illuminate the dates of these two journeys?

Getting a more precise handle on this would be very helpful, expedite what I'm writing, and be very much appreciated!

Don

[cdowis]

You have run across one of two known issues on BOM chronology, and we can only guess at the answer. Perhaps this one was an error by Mormon.

The other is when Lehi left Jerusalem relative to the reign of Zedekiah. Some have suggested that, just as we have two hills called Cumorah, we also have two Zedekiahs.

Edited July 3, 2011 by cdowis

[Kevin Christensen]

Try Randall Spackman:

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=7&num=1&id=170

A useful review here:

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=10&num=1&id=276

Also, the Preliminary Report:

Randall P. Spackman, "Introduction to Book of Mormon Chronology: The Principal Prophecies, Calendars, and Dates" (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1993)

There is some ongoing discussion about when Lehi would have left, relative to the destruction of Jerusalem and the reign of Zedekiah.

Kevin Christensen

Bethel Park, PA

[Brant Gardner]

I am working on what we can know of the "lost 116 pages" of the Book of Mormon. In the process of this research, some issues have arisen to which chronology is very important. This is particularly the case for the respective journeys of King Mosiah I from the land of Nephi to that of Zarahemla and of Zeniff from the land of Zarahemla to that of Nephi.

I revisted all of the chronology as I was going through the text. My guesses on this period are found in vol. 3 195-197. I don't know what dates you are looking for. I have a reconstructed date of about 157 B.C. for Zeniff's return to the land of Nephi and have him dying about 137 B.C.

The problem is that there are only two textually fixed dates bracketing this time period. One is 320 years after Lehi left Jerusalem and the next is 476 years after Lehi left Jerusalem. Everything between those two dates is a guess.

[DonBradley]

Kevin, Brant, and CD,

Thank you each for your input. I have since gone and looked at Ben Spackman's papers, and, Brant, I'm getting a copy of your published commentary from Greg as an advance on my book. I've used an old copy of the online version some, but look forward to having the up-to-date (and citable) version!

Don

[Sargon]

Kevin, Brant, and CD,

Thank you each for your input. I have since gone and looked at Ben Spackman's papers, and, Brant, I'm getting a copy of your published commentary from Greg as an advance on my book. I've used an old copy of the online version some, but look forward to having the up-to-date (and citable) version!

Don

Don't count on Kofford getting it to you anytime soon. I've been waiting since March for an order I placed for the last 4 volumes in Brant's series. Kofford has not been answering phone calls and not calling back. Brant's commentary is the very best thing we have, and nothing that thorough and scholarly will come along anytime soon, but the publisher is incredibly slow.

[Brant Gardner]

Don't count on Kofford getting it to you anytime soon. I've been waiting since March for an order I placed for the last 4 volumes in Brant's series. Kofford has not been answering phone calls and not calling back. Brant's commentary is the very best thing we have, and nothing that thorough and scholarly will come along anytime soon, but the publisher is incredibly slow.

The books were actually printed several weeks ago, and then there was a problem with the dust jackets. I had thought that they should be out by now (though I agree that they have been pretty late in coming). I'll see if I can find out.

[Brant Gardner]

I have the answer. They have recently received from the printer 1000 copies of each volume. They are now officially available. Now we just have to get them to the people who took the back orders. At least they exist.

[Sargon]

I have the answer. They have recently received from the printer 1000 copies of each volume. They are now officially available. Now we just have to get them to the people who took the back orders. At least they exist.

Yay!