Case Study of the People of Zeniff

The record of the people of Zeniff is used here as a source of ethnographic data for an instrumental case study on how the Lord interacts with his people, based on their righteousness.

By Tim Frodsham, 7 June 2020

Quantitative studies have become commonplace in our culture. Solemn news segments inform us of the effectiveness of vaccines in the latest research trials followed by cleverly designed advertisements to assure us that we are 60% less likely to have cavities at our next dental appointment, not to mention that minty fresh breath.

In the last few decades, we have also seen a surge in qualitative research which examines results that cannot be defined by numbers. Such studies are used to examine, among other things, women in the workplace or the experience of minorities in our educational system. Here, we look for change in some aspect of the quality of life, though not necessarily something we can quantify such as income.

In Mormon’s abridgement of the Book of Mosiah, he gives a detailed account of the people of Zeniff, their descent into wickedness, and their eventual repentance and redemption. This account provides a rich source of ethnographic data which fits neatly and powerfully into the format of a well-designed instrumental case study, a recent form of qualitative research. In this type of study, a group of people called a population is divided into sub groups. Over a period of time, one then observes each group to determine how they react to some type of challenge or experience, designed to be similar for both groups. This study refers to the narrative of the people of Zeniff as a source of data, and I will draw out some conclusions on how the Lord interacts differently with His people depending on their righteousness.

The record of the people of Zeniff begins in the Book of Omni, verses 27 – 30 where Zeniff leads “a considerable number” of people from the land of Zarahemla to the land of their first inheritance, the land of Lehi-Nephi. The record of these people continues in Mosiah 7 and 8, where King Mosiah sends a group of scouts, under the leadership of Ammon, to find the people of Zeniff and give an account of their dealings. Mosiah chapters 9 – 22 detail the account of the people of Limhi, and Mosiah chapters 23 and 24 complete the history with an account of the people of Alma. Unless otherwise noted, all scriptural references in this article refer to the book of Mosiah, and all highlights and emphasis are mine.

The people of Zeniff lived together as a community, first in relative righteousness, then descending into wickedness under the reign of King Noah. After the prophetic mission of Abinadi, the people divided into two groups: those following King Limhi and those following the priest and prophet Alma. I will talk about how to select research groups later. The people of Limhi were hostile or at best apathetic to the teachings of the Savior Jesus Christ while the people of Alma were faithful converts. The narrative in the Book of Mormon describing the Lord’s interaction with these two groups provides the material for this study, and the steps used for this specific study are common to qualitative studies in general. In this study, I will minimize the research jargon used in typical scholastic studies, but describe and follow the research steps rigorously.

Let’s jump in then and build this qualitative instrumental case study. The first step is to define some research questions concerning the experiences of the people of Zeniff. Research questions are critical in a study. They determine how we define the study, how we look at the data, and how we interpret the results. Spend a few moments contemplating these questions, they are the crux of the rest of this research.

Research Questions

1. In what way were the tribulations of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma similar?
   
2. What were the depth and attributes of faithfulness of the people of Alma as compared to the people of Limhi?

3. What were the respective responses of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma to their subjugation and persecution?

4. What was the nature of the Lord’s intervention in the lives of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma?

And the culminating question:

5. How did the manner of Lord’s intervention correlate to the faithfulness of each group?

I will use these research questions to examine the experiences of the people Zeniff with a focus on how the Lord directed them and how he intervened in their behalf. The next step is to define the population involved in the study.

Define the Population

After defining the research questions, the second step is to designate the population to be observed during the course of the study. The population for this case study is the Nephites who left not long after King Mosiah had discovered the people of Zarahemla. Readers are first introduced to these people in the Book of Omni. They are described as, “a large number who were desirous to possess the land of their inheritance.” They got off to a rocky start. The first foray into the wilderness aborted when all but 50 were slain due to internal conflict. Under the leadership of “a strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man,” they regrouped, recruited “others to a considerable number, and took their journey again into the wilderness” (Omni, 27-30).  I will refer to this population as the people of Zeniff because he was their first leader.

We do not know how many years this population resided in the land of Lehi-Nephi, other than that the king during the time of this study was “Limhi, the son of Noah, who was the son of Zeniff, who came up out of the land of Zarahemla to inherit this land” (7:9). Up until the start of the study period, the people of Zeniff experienced decades of conflict with the Lamanites. At the end of this common experience came the preaching and martyrdom of the prophet Abinadi, with Alma, his initial convert. With this background on our population, we continue our study by defining our research groups then assigning members of our research population, the people of Zeniff, to those groups.

Divide the Population into Groups

Assigning people to research groups can be done in multiple ways. They can be selected at random, selected based on certain attributes, or allowed to select their own group. In general, one does not need to use the entire population, but can choose a small number of people for each group. In this study, all of the people of Zeniff choose to be a part of one of two groups:  the people who believed the priest and prophet Alma and fled the land of Nephi-Lehi, and those who did not believe, remaining with king Limhi. I will call these two groups the people of Alma, “about four hundred and fifty souls” (18:34), and the people of Limhi. We do not know how many remained with King Noah, who was quickly succeeded by his son, King Limhi, but we do know the people of Alma constituted a significant portion of the overall population as after they escaped, “the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people” (19:2). 

It is important to understand the nature and motives of the people who chose to be in each group, as this will help us understand and interpret their reactions to their common experiences. The group that chose to follow Alma entered willingly into the waters of baptism and then fled into the wilderness to escape the persecution of the remaining population. They actively chose to follow the Lord and His high priest Alma. What about the people of Limhi who remained? Were they even aware of the drama unfolding around them?

I assume with some confidence that the people of Limhi numbered in the low thousands, a reasonably sized group of two or more generations that descended from the 450 who left the land of Zarahemla. Any larger and the loss of the people of Alma would not have been significant. Any smaller and the secret preaching of Alma would have been immediately detected by King Noah (18:32). The execution of the prophet Abinadi, sealing his testimony to Noah and his priests with his own life, was probably done publicly. A population numbering even thousands of people would have been aware of such a public execution and the reasons behind it. I assume then that a majority of those who remained behind after Alma and his people fled the city of Nephi were aware of Alma, were aware of the preaching of Abinadi as compared to the wickedness of their king, and chose not to follow Alma. They chose to remain either through apathy or agreement with Noah’s rebellion against God. There could have been many of the remaining people who had no idea of the preaching of Alma and the subsequent flight of those who followed him, but there were enough who made a conscious choice to follow King Noah in his unrighteousness to make the collective response of the people of Limhi significant and relevant to this study.

The people who remained behind were not always steeped in ignorance and wickedness. Look back to their beginnings in the land of Zarahemla. They had been previously immersed in a culture of righteousness and awareness of God and of our Savior Jesus Christ. Their king, Zeniff himself, led them to war, putting their trust in the Lord (10:19). One may safely infer from this narrative that their choice to reject God was deliberate.

We have successfully divided the study population into two groups: a smaller but significant number who chose to reject the wicked ways of their king, Noah, and follow Alma into the wilderness, and those who rejected, at least initially, the righteous paths preached by Abinadi, either through apathy or willful disobedience, and remained with King Limhi, Noah’s son.

Examine the Similar Experiences

With the population divided into groups and a background on their previous experiences, it is time to turn to the actual study. To make the results meaningful, the events experienced by the two research groups should be similar. This does not mean they need to be exact, nor is it possible to do so. We are after all dealing with people, not numbers or things. In studies such as this, it can be useful to skew the actual experiences, deliberately accentuating them for one group as compared to the other to further solidify the results. In fact, we shall see that this is exactly what the Lord does to prove His point.

After the people of Alma fled the land of Nephi-Lehi, and thus isolated the two groups, the people of Alma and the people of Limhi shared a series of similar experiences during the period of this study. Let’s examine each in turn.

A Period of Relative Peace from Lamanite Influence

People of Limhi:

After the exodus of the people of Alma, there was “a division among the remainder of the people,” and there “began to be great contention among them” (19: 2,3).

People of Alma:

The people of Alma, pursued by the armies of King Noah “gathered together their flocks, and took of their grain, and departed into the wilderness” (23:1). In their new land of Helem, they “began to build buildings; yea, they were industrious, and did labor exceedingly” (23:5), and “Alma [did] teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them” (23:15).

Although both groups experienced an initial “Lamanite-free” period at the beginning of our study, there behavior had already begun to differ.

Subjugation to the Lamanites

People of Limhi:

The people of Limhi were enslaved by the Lamanites and forced to pay a tribute “even one half of all they possessed” (19:26). Even under slavery and tribute, King “Limhi began to establish the kingdom and to establish peace among his people” (19:27).

People of Alma:

An army of Lamanites discovered them and “exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put task-masters over them” (24:9).

Both of these populations were enslaved by the Lamanites, forced to work as mere beasts of burden, and heavily taxed to support their oppressors.

Servitude and Bondage

Both of these groups suffered through a period of persecution and bondage by Lamanite task masters. For the people of Limhi, this was initiated by a kidnapping of some Lamanite women; for the people of Alma, it was instigated by one of King Noah’s wicked priests.

People of Limhi:

Renegade priests of Noah upset the Lamanites by kidnapping some of their daughters (20:5), and the Lamanites “went up to the land of Nephi to destroy the people of Limhi” (20:8). Limhi pacified them by attributing the kidnapping to the priests of Noah and called on his people to continue their servitude to the Lamanites “for it is better that we should be in bondage than that we should lose our lives” (20:18). After a time, the Lamanites amped up their game. “They would smite them on their cheeks, and exercise authority over them; and began to put heavy burdens upon their backs, and drive them as they would a dumb ass” (21:3). The response of the people of Limhi was to go “against the Lamanites to drive them out of their land” (21:6). Not satisfied when they were first defeated by Lamanites, after a second attempt “they went again even the third time, and suffered in the like manner; and those that were not slain returned again to the city of Nephi. And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage” (21:13).

People of Alma:

Amulon (one of the priests of Noah having wormed his way into the Lamanite leadership and with a personal hatred for Alma) “began to exercise authority over Alma and his brethren, persecuting him, and cause that his children should persecute their children. . . He exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put task-masters over them . . . And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God” (24:8 – 10).

In response to their prayers, “the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. (24:15)

Escape and Return to Zarahemla

Both of our research groups escaped from their Lamanite oppressors and made their way back to the land of Zarahemla.

People of Limhi:

King Limhi caused that his people should gather their flocks together, and he sent the tribute of wine to the Lamanites, “and he also sent more wine, as a present unto them; and they did drink freely of the wine which king Limhi did send unto them. And it came to pass that the people of king Limhi did depart by night into the wilderness […] and bent their course towards the land of Zarahemla” (22:11).

People of Alma:

The miraculous nature of the Lord’s intervention in the escape of the people of Alma began when they first fled from the armies of King Noah. “The Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them” (23:2).

In their escape from the Lamanites, “So great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage” (24:16). “In the morning the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yea, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep […] and Alma and his people departed into the wilderness”(24:19, 20) […] “and they gave thanks to God, yea, all their men and all their women and all their children that could speak lifted their voices in the praises of their God […] and now the Lord said unto Alma: Haste thee and get thou and this people out of this land, for the Lamanites have awakened and do pursue thee; therefore get thee out of this land, and I will stop the Lamanites in this valley that they come no further in pursuit of this people” (24:22, 23).

So far, we have looked at the common experiences, the respective tribulations of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma, and examined how they responded to their respective persecutions. Now, let’s return to the research questions.

Answers to the Research Questions

1. In what way were the experiences of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma similar?

After the people of Alma fled the land of Lehi-Nephi, both groups experienced a period of relative freedom from Lamanite influence. The people of Limhi were overcome with internal strife, with factions attempting to assassinate king Noah. The people of Alma used their period of peace to farm and build, living in peace with all things in common.

Both the people of Limhi and the people of Alma were invaded and conquered by Lamanites. Both were forced to pay tribute and both were persecuted by their Lamanite overlords. The people of Alma experienced even worse persecution due to the personal hatred of Amulon, now a Lamanite leader, towards Alma.

Both groups conspired to escape their Lamanite captors and journeyed to the land of Zarahemla. 

2. What were the respective responses of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma to their subjugation and persecution?

During their enslavement to the Lamanites, the people of Limhi made few if any petitions to the Lord for their protection or deliverance. Instead, they made three failed attempts to expel the Lamanites from their land. They lost numerous fathers, sons, brothers and husbands and were humbled to the dust. It was only at this point that they began to cry to their God. After Ammon and his search party found the people of Limhi, they covenanted to “serve [God] and keep his commandments” (21:32).

From the beginning of their subjugation, the people of Alma acknowledged the influence of God and cried to him for deliverance. They submitted to the slavery of the Lamanites, and when denied even the right to pray vocally, prayed in silence (24:11).

3. What was the nature of the Lord’s intervention in the lives of the people of Limhi and the people of Alma?

It makes no mention in the narrative that the Lord strengthened the people of Limhi in any way. The Lord was slow to hear the cries of the people of Limhi, but eventually softened the hearts of the Lamanites to ease their burdens.

The Lord was active in the escape as well as the relief of the people of Alma. “I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions” (24:14). Note that the Lord did not soften the hearts of the Lamanites to ease their burdens as He did for the people of Limhi. Because of the hatred of Amulon, the burdens placed on the people of Alma were even worse than those subjected on the people of Limhi.  Instead, the Lord strengthened the people so they could not feel the burdens on their backs.

4. How did the Lord’s intervention correlate to the faithfulness of these people?

The Lord’s intervention in behalf of the people of Limhi was in a more natural sphere. After their unsuccessful attempts at freedom, “they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger” (Mosiah 21:16). The Lord moved to soften the hearts of the Lamanites, but nothing a dispassionate observer would view as miraculous. Even their escape to Zarahemla was rather ordinary. They served their guards an extra ration of wine and while they were sleeping off a drunk, escaped out the back entrance through a secret pass and trekked to Zarahemla, led by Ammon and the search party sent from Zarahemla.

For the people of Alma, the Lord’s intervention was open and, in many ways, miraculous. In their escape from King Noah and the land of Lehi-Nephi, the Lord physically strengthened them, allowing their men, women, and even their children to out distance the armies of King Noah (23:2). When enslaved by the armies of Amulon, the Lord made their burdens light, that they could bear up their burdens with ease. Like the people of Limhi, they gathered up their flocks and grain, but instead of boozing up their guards, the Lord caused a deep sleep to come over the guards, and they walked from their city the next morning (24:19,20).

Later, in the valley they called Alma, the Lord warned them “get thee out of this land, and I will stop the Lamanites in this valley that they come no further in pursuit of this people” (Mosiah 24:23). Note here as well that while the people of Limhi had guides back to the city of Zarahemla in the form of Ammon and his party, there were no guides for Alma and his people. Since neither group knew how to return to Zarahemla, the only other option for the people of Alma was divine direction.

Summary and Conclusions

Throughout this saga, the Lord made His intent abundantly clear. To use the vernacular of Mormon, “and thus we see” when we turn to Him, we can endure with cheerfulness far more than is humanly possible. He may not lift our burdens; in fact, as He did with the people of Alma, He may impose on us even more onerous tasks and experiences. What He does, however, is strengthen us such that we can bear these burdens with ease. He leads us through revelation and direct intervention. He carries us; He bears us up; He shoulders our burdens on His back as we submit to Him in cheerfulness. In the narrative, the Lord deliberately skewed the experiences so that “Ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit My People in their afflictions” (24:14). Deliberately altering the intervention one group experiences as compared to the other is a well-accepted research method to further solidify the conclusions of a study. In this particular narrative, the nature of the Lord’s intervention to prove this point is masterful.

The results of this study do not preclude the possibility of the Lord’s miraculous intervention in the lives of any of His children. It is clear, however, that when we turn to Him, the peace, joy and trust we feel in this life has little to do with our circumstance. The burdens we carry may be just as hard or even harder, but it is the Lord, our Savior, who bears the weight.

Copyright 2020 Tim Frodsham