Laban (Book of Mormon)

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This article is about a person in the Book of Mormon. For other uses, see Laban (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Laman and Lemuel.
Laban
A man lies on the ground, his eyes shut. He wears clothing with very wide sleeves. A scabbard for a sword is at his belt. One arm rests under his head, as if his pillow. He is fully plunged in the shadow of a wall/building to the left in the image. This man is Laban. This was cropped from the 1894 painting Nephi and Laban by Herman Hugo Haag, the latter being a depiction of the scene from 1 Nephi 4, in the Book of Mormon.
Laban unconscious (1 Nephi 4:7), as depicted in H. H. Haag's 1894 Nephi and Laban
Personal
Died
Jerusalem
Cause of deathKilled by Nephi
EraReign of Zedekiah
Known forPossessing the brass plates

Laban (

Nephites
.

Narrative

Part of a series on
People in the Book of Mormon
Lehi (far right, bearded) bestowing a blessing on his family. At least 21 different figures are visible (inclusive of infants and children). There is a mix of men, women, and children. A man in blue appears to be writing, perhaps transcribing what Lehi is saying. One infant is nursing. Several men have beards. All but the children wear hats or scarf-like head coverings. The fashion and style is reminiscent of nineteenth-century Christian art of Old Testament scenes. There is a vibrancy of color, with clothing in blues, greens, whites, and reds. The family gather in something like a circle, on a green, grassy field. There are tents visible in the background. This is cropped from a full version of the scene.
Lehi Blessing His Posterity, C. C. A. Christensen (1890)
Prophets and priests
Rulers
Judges
Military leaders
Other leaders
Others

Laban appears in First Nephi as a wealthy and politically influential military commander who appears to be[clarification needed] a distant kinsman of Lehi. Laban owns brass plates[clarification needed] and rebuffs both Laman and Nephi in their initial approaches[clarification needed]. Laban attempts to kill them two times, and the second time he steals the Lehi family fortune. Later, Nephi sneaks into Jerusalem and discovers Laban lying drunk in the road. Directed by the Spirit of the Lord, Nephi decapitates Laban. He then puts on Laban's clothing and armor and retrieves the plates.[2]

Interpretations

Brass Plates

Brant Gardner identified five ways that the plates of Laban were "extremely important",

2 Kings 11:12.[4]

James Strang, like Joseph Smith, claimed to translate scripture from metal plates. The resulting scripture, the Book of the Law of the Lord, claims to contain at least part of Laban's plates.[5]

Death

Main article: Killing of Laban

Deleuzean treatment of the sword of Laban as emblematic of climate change and of power structures, referring to it as symptomatic of the "Jerusalem-machine."[8]

Popular Culture

In

Austin Chronicle wrote of "Michael Flynn turning in a ripping good Edward G. Robinson impersonation as the villainous Laban."[10]

See also

References

  1. IPA
    -ified from «lā´bun»
  2. ^ Thomas 2016, pp. 32–33.
  3. ^ a b Gardner 2007, pp. 100–101.
  4. ^ Ricks, Stephen D. (1998). "Kingship, Coronation, and Covenant in Mosiah 1--6". In Welch, John W.; Ricks, Stephen D. (eds.). King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom". Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. pp. 247–248.
  5. ^ Beshears, Kyle R. (2021, September 25). "Wingfield Scott Watson and His Struggle to Preserve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Strangite) after the Death of Its Founder" (dissertation). Boyce Digital Repository. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://hdl.handle.net/10392/6603.
  6. ^ a b Swift, Charles (2019). ""The Lord slayeth the wicked": Coming to Terms with Nephi Killing Laban". Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. 86 (1).
  7. ^ Brigham, Janet (March 29, 2018). "Being Joseph Smith". Dialogue. 33 (2): 187–190.
  8. ^ Peck, Steven L (2022). "THE SWORD OF LABAN, DELEUZE, AND CLIMATE CHANGE: SLOUCHING TOWARD APOCALYPSE IN THE BOOK OF MORMON". Ships of Hagoth.
  9. ^ The Book of Mormon Movie, Deseret News.
  10. ^ The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey in the Austin Chronicle

Works cited

Further reading

External links
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