[See previous posts in this series.]
This post will cover 1 Nephi through Jacob, three substantial books of the Book of Mormon, but there’s so little war-related information in those books that one post is sufficient for my purposes. It’s not that there isn’t any war, of course; it’s just that it’s pretty much only mentioned in passing. This is to be expected since, as Nephi informs us, the history part of their existence, including wars, is recorded on other plates (2 Nephi 5:33). The curiosity about what is on those plates is killing me. Alas.
But let’s focus on what we do have in these books. The Nephites and Lamanites separate a many-day distance (2 Nephi 5), but the Nephites expect that the distance will not completely prevent conflicts between the groups and prepare: Nephi uses the sword of Laban as the model to make many swords (2 Nephi 5:14). They build up their new community in other ways too (buildings, metal work, temple), suggesting that war or conflicts are not too large of a part of their existence at this point, but still, they prepare.
However, the last verse of 2 Nephi 5 says that “forty years had passed away, and we had already had wars and contentions with our brethren.” Brant Gardner1 suggests that it is likely these “wars and contentions” were smaller raids, not the large-scale battles we see later in the Book of Mormon. This seems reasonable considering that 40 years would not be sufficient time to create a population big enough for large battles, even assuming they joined existing groups already in the area when they arrived on the continent.
We jump ahead to Jacob for the next mention of war. At this time the Nephites had become more wicked than the Lamanites (Jacob 3:5) and then returned to faithfulness (Jacob 7:23). Having recently been reconverted, the Nephites wanted to convert the Lamanites, but alas, the Lamanites “sought by the power of their arms to destroy [the Nephites] continually” (Jacob 7:24).
By this time we are quite removed from the hatred Laman and Lemuel and their people felt towards Nephi and his people, so the warfare isn’t likely personal, though it can’t be completely written off as a possibility. However, Gardner writes that it is possible “that the Lamanites adopted Mesoamerican social models that focused more strongly on warfare…. It is also possible that the town of Nephi was desirable because of its wealth” 2.
The Nephites’ approach to the war was to fortify themselves with all of their arms and might, and to trust in God. The Nephites were never the aggressors in these early books of the Book of Mormon. They defend themselves only. Religious motivation or rational approach as traders who can expand their influence without dealing with extensive war?3 Or both? In any case, they were successful in defending themselves against the Lamanites.
For now.
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1Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Volume 2, Brant A. Gardner, 2007, p.126.
2Ibid, p. 577.
3Ibid.