Laban (Book of Mormon)

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Laban (Template:IPAc-en)<ref>churchofjesuschrist.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from «lā´bun»</ref> 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.

NarrativeEdit

Template:Figures in the Book of Mormon 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.Template:Sfn

InterpretationsEdit

Brass PlatesEdit

Brant Gardner identified five ways that the brass plates of Laban were "extremely important",Template:Sfn 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."Template:Sfn 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.<ref name=Ricks>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>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.</ref>

DeathEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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,"<ref name=Swift>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and symbolically sever of the Book of Mormon narrative from the established biblical canon as the Spirit of the Lord ordered Laban's murder.<ref name=Swift/> 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."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Popular cultureEdit

In The Book of Mormon Movie, adapted from First and Second Nephi, Laban was portrayed by the actor Michael Flynn.<ref>The Book of Mormon Movie, Deseret News.</ref> 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."<ref>The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey in the Austin Chronicle</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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Works citedEdit

External linksEdit

LDS research articles on the Sword of Laban
References to Laban in the index to the LDS edition of The Book of Mormon
References to brass plates in the index to the LDS edition of The Book of Mormon
Book of the Law of the Lord, Being a Translation from the Egyptian of the Law Given to Moses in Sinai. The Royal Press, St. James, 1856.