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Laban (Book of Mormon)

(Redirected from Brass Plates)
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 (/ˈleɪbən/)[1] is a figure in the First Book of Nephi, near the start of the Book of Mormon, a scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement. Although he only makes a brief appearance in the Book of Mormon, his brass plates play an important role when they are taken by Laman and Nephi (often referred to as the "sons of Lehi") and are used by the Nephites.

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

Narrative

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Laban appears in First Nephi as a wealthy and politically influential military commander who may be a distant kinsman of Lehi. Laban owns brass plates which are held in high esteem. Lehi sends his sons Laman and Nephi to retrieve these plates, but Laban rebuffs them. He then attempts to kill the brothers 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

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Brass Plates

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Brant Gardner identified five ways that the brass plates of Laban were "extremely important",[3] both in the immediate context of their retrieval by the sons of Lehi and in later Nephite, Lamanite, and Mulekite society. For Gardner, the plates function as a symbol of political authority, as a "social anchor" for the Nephites, a doctrinal source text, a prototype for Nephite recordkeeping, and as a "sacred object."[3] The last point, indicating that the brass plates function as royal insignia, is also discussed in depth by Stephen D. Ricks, a Latter-day Saint Hebraist and apologist. Ricks associated the brass plates with the "protocol" that was used as a prop in Josiah's coronation, citing Rashi's interpretation of the Hebrew word "edût" as the Torah in 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

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Main article: Killing of Laban

Nephi's killing of Laban has been argued over by believers and others engaging with the narrative on its own terms. Some say that the killing was legally justified as self defense, that it was a political act, that it was specifically one of "sovereignty,"[6] and that it functioned similarly to the biblical Akedah as a test of Nephi's faith. Commentators have suggested that the story was a way for Joseph Smith to deal with repressed childhood trauma[7] and symbolically sever of the Book of Mormon narrative from the established biblical canon as the Spirit of the Lord ordered Laban's murder.[6] Steven L. Peck, a Latter-day Saint novelist wrote a 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]

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In The Book of Mormon Movie, adapted from First and Second Nephi, Laban was portrayed by the actor Michael Flynn.[9] The film was widely panned by Latter-day Saint and secular critics. The Austin Chronicle wrote of "Michael Flynn turning in a ripping good Edward G. Robinson impersonation as the villainous Laban."[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ churchofjesuschrist.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" (retrieved 2012-02-25), 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

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Further reading

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