Mormon and the Book of Judges

The final chapters of the book of Judges, like those in Mormon 1-6, were a dark time in the history of Israel. Instead of doing what was right before God, every man did what was right in his own eyes. As one biblical scholar states, "It shows how Israel’s hospitality, warfare, justice, and politics were all debased because of the moral blindness and/or perversity of its citizens (including Levites and elders) and the consequent malfunctioning of its institutions. Yahweh’s displeasure, and his sovereignty, find expression in the chastisement he brings to bear on the whole community." ¹

When the Benjaminite town of Gibeah refuses to hand over men accused of a crime, the other tribes of Israel go to war against them, resulting in three destructive battles. During the first two battles, the Benjaminites manage to defeat the forces of Israel. During the third battle, however, the men of Israel are able to draw the forces of Benjamin out of the city and destroy them in an ambush. In this and subsequent engagements, all but a few hundred of the men of Benjamin are destroyed.

Mormon’s description of the three battles at the city of Desolation recall the biblical story, but he notably casts the Nephites in the role of doomed Benjamin, and the Lamanites as the other tribes of Israel. During the first two battles, the Nephites defeat the Lamanites, but during the third, the Nephites are drawn out of their stronghold and suffer a disastrous defeat. The comparison between the tribe of Benjamin and the people of Nephi is particularly apt, since both Israelite groups were nearly destroyed. The connection between the two stories is strengthened by Mormon’s use of words that evoke the three battles in Judges.

During the third battle, the army of Benjamin "went out" of their fortress to fight (Judges 20:31). Similarly, the Nephites in their third battle went "out" from their fortified land of Desolation to fight the Lamanites (Mormon 4:1).

During the third battle between the Israelites and Benjamin’s army, "the battle was sore" (Judges 20:34). Similarly, during the third engagement between the Nephites and the Lamanites, Mormon says, "they had a sore battle "(Mormon 4:2).

Before going to battle with the tribe of Benjamin, the forces of Israel "had sworn" with an oath that those who did not join the fight against Benjamin would be put to death" (Judges 21:5), and that none of the Israelites would be allowed to intermarry with Benjamin (Judges 21:1, 7). This oath, however, resulted in disaster for both the Israelites and Benjamin, as there were not enough Benjaminite women to marry the surviving men.

Mormon says that after the second battle, the Nephites "began to swear by the heavens" that they would avenge themselves against the Lamanites and destroy them. Mormon says that "when they had sworn" this oath, he refused to lead them" (Mormon 3:14). This oath resulted in the disastrous third battle, in which the Nephites forces were nearly destroyed.

After the battles in Judges, the Israelites lamented that "there is one tribe cut off from Israel this day" (Judges 21:6). Mormon says that when the Nephites made their oath, they swore that they would "cut off" the Lamanites from the face of the land (Mormon 3:10). The Lord then told Mormon that because the Nephites had done this and refused to repent, "they shall be cut off from the face of the earth" (Mormon 3:15). In Judges, when the forces of Benjamin were decoyed out of their fortifications, the Israelite armies who lay in wait rose up and took the town, while others sprung the trap on their enemies.

And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place, and put themselves in array... and the liers in wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah.

And there came against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore: but they knew not that evil was near them.

And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel (Judges 20:33-35).

Lillian Klein, in her commentary on the book of Judges, noted the ambiguity of the phrase in Judges 20:34. "The ‘evil’ may be understood as abstract ‘evil’ has struck. It may also be taken to suggest that the forces of Israel, which are striking the Benjaminites down, are themselves evil, that Yahweh uses the reprehensible forces of Israel to conquer [the] iniquitous forces of Benjamin. The ‘evil’ (ra’ah) which is striking will purge the evil in Benjamin." ²

Significantly, this is the very point that Mormon makes when he implicitly compares the Nephites and the Lamanites to the wicked forces of Benjamin and Israel. "But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed" (Mormon 4:5).

Personal application

Mormon was clearly familiar with scripture and was able draw insights from the biblical history on the plates of brass appropriate for his own situation. We can do the same by likening the scriptures unto ourselves in our day. Readers of the Book of Mormon will also benefit from a familiarity with biblical stories, as these are a part of the scriptural past of Book of Mormon prophets, who drew upon biblical ideas, phrases, and words to convey their prophetic messages. The better we know the biblical stories and their language, the more we can recognize these elements in the Book of Mormon.



¹ Barry G. Webb, The Book of Judges: An Integrated Reading (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1987), 197.

^{2Lillian R. Klein, The Triumph of Irony in the Book of Judges (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1988), 185.}