Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Matthew.B
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Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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2 Kings 24:10-18:
10 ¶At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.

14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

17 ¶And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
1 Nephi 1:4
4 For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed.
1 Nephi 3:22-25
22 And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things.

23 And after we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban.

24 And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things.

25 And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property.
Right before the opening of the Book of Mormon, Jerusalem is sacked and every rich person is taken away with their property. Lehi, however, who lived in Jerusalem "all his days" is left in Jerusalem despite having "exceedingly great" property (gold, silver, and precious things). My question is, what set of circumstances allowed for Lehi to stay in Jerusalem and escape being dragged off?

I have a few theories, but wanted to see if anyone had anything substantive from an official source.

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Right before the opening of the Book of Mormon, Jerusalem is sacked and every rich person is taken away with their property. Lehi, however, who lived in Jerusalem "all his days" is left in Jerusalem despite having "exceedingly great" property (gold, silver, and precious things). My question is, what set of circumstances allowed for Lehi to stay in Jerusalem and escape being dragged off?

I have a few theories, but wanted to see if anyone had anything substantive from an official source.
Ok, my ignorance is going to shine on this subject. But I thought Lehi left Jerusalem before it was invaded. Was there another invasion before that one, in which Lehi would have been alive?

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Matthew.B
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar who carried the current king of Judah, Jehoiachin, off to Babylon and set "his father's brother", Mattaniah, as king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah eventually rebels against Nebuchadnezzar and is killed along with his whole family. It was in the first year of Zedekiah's reign that Nephi's narrative begins.

I really wish we had the missing 116 pages. Lehi's writings would have shed sooo much light on this and other subjects! Good news though, the fullness of the records of the Nephites will be recovered eventually... Soon, I hope!

Two things I realized as I put together this post:

-Mattaniah/Zedekiah was the uncle of the King of Babylon- not of the house of Israel! That means the Mulekites (or at least Mulek, and probably a significant percentage of the original Mulekites) weren't Israeli at all!

-Nebuchadnezzar changed his brother's name to a Hebrew name that means "the Lord (is) righteousness". The story of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar shows, IMO, that Nebuchadnezzar knew the doings of the Lord, despite being lifted up in his own pride. That's very interesting to me, and shows how the fame of the God of Israel spread- even to her conquerors.

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Mattaniah/Zedekiah was the uncle of the King of Babylon- not of the house of Israel! That means the Mulekites (or at least Mulek, and probably a significant percentage of the original Mulekites) weren't Israeli at all!
Edited this part out.

Mulek
See also Zedekiah.
A son of the Old Testament king Zedekiah (circa 589 B.C.). The Bible records that all the sons of Zedekiah were slain (2 Kgs. 25:7), but the Book of Mormon clarifies that Mulek survived (Hel. 8:21).
• Zarahemla was a descendant of Mulek, Mosiah 25:2
• The people of Mulek joined the Nephites, Mosiah 25:13
• The Lord brought Mulek into the land north, Hel. 6:10
• All of Zedekiah’s sons were slain except Mulek, Hel. 8:21

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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1 Chronicles 3:
1 Now these were the sons of David,
5 And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel:
1 Chronicles 3:
10 ¶And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,
11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
13 Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
2 Kings 18:
1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
2 Kings 20:
21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 21:
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzi-bah.
2 Kings 21:
18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
19 ¶Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
2 Kings 21:
25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 22:
1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2 King 23:
30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.

2 Kings 23:
31 ¶Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
• 2 Kings 24:18
17 ¶And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu (Hebrew: צִדְקִיָּהוּ, Modern Tsidkiyyahu Tiberian Ṣiḏqiyyā́hû ; "My righteousness is Yahweh"; Greek: Ζεδεκίας, Zedekías; Latin: Sedecias) was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and ten days.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zedekiah" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


So Zedekiah is a descendant of David who was a son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah. So I guess Mulek was Jewish and the only living son of royal lineage that was an inheritor to the crown of David still living.
Last edited by NoGreaterLove on January 7th, 2012, 12:55 am, edited 5 times in total.

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Since Mulek was Jewish and the rightful inheritor of the crown of Judah, that would mean any Lamanite who could trace their lineage back through Mulek would have that royal lineage in their blood.

1 Who is the Stem of Jesse spoken of in the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th verses of the 11th chapter of Isaiah?

2 Verily thus saith the Lord: It is Christ.

3 What is the rod spoken of in the first verse of the 11th chapter of Isaiah, that should come of the Stem of Jesse?

4 Behold, thus saith the Lord: It is a servant in the hands of Christ, who is partly a descendant of Jesse as well as of Ephraim, or of the house of Joseph, on whom there is laid much power.

The combining of Ephraim with Judah, the birthright (Ephraim) with the lawgiver (Judah). It was Judah that saved his younger brother's life when his other brothers wanted to kill him.
Was Joseph Smith of both of these lineages?

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Right before the opening of the Book of Mormon, Jerusalem is sacked and every rich person is taken away with their property. Lehi, however, who lived in Jerusalem "all his days" is left in Jerusalem despite having "exceedingly great" property (gold, silver, and precious things). My question is, what set of circumstances allowed for Lehi to stay in Jerusalem and escape being dragged off?

I have a few theories, but wanted to see if anyone had anything substantive from an official source.
Because he was not a Jew and was from the tribe of Manasseh? Because Daniel who was with Neb. influenced him? Interesting question. I think it is a very good question. You have me wondering. What do you think?

I am going to guess it was because King Neb had a relationship with Daniel and feared God in some respects. Lehi was a prophet and would have been recognized as such. It is my guess that Lehi was an apostle.
Last edited by NoGreaterLove on January 7th, 2012, 2:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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mattctr
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Matthew.B wrote:Right before the opening of the Book of Mormon, Jerusalem is sacked and every rich person is taken away with their property. Lehi, however, who lived in Jerusalem "all his days" is left in Jerusalem despite having "exceedingly great" property (gold, silver, and precious things). My question is, what set of circumstances allowed for Lehi to stay in Jerusalem and escape being dragged off?

I have a few theories, but wanted to see if anyone had anything substantive from an official source.
I've got nothing substantive, but I'm curious what you think might explain this. I can think of various scenarios.

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Matthew.B
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Re: Mulek being of the house of David- it was a too-quick reading of 2 Kings 24:17, where I assumed the antecedent of "his" was King Neb. as opposed to King Jehoiachin who was carried into Babylon. Darn confusing pronouns...

Re: changing Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah- it looks like King Neb. besieged Jerusalem the first time in the first year of his reign (2 Kings 24:1, Daniel 1:1), and in the second year of King Neb.'s reign Daniel interpreted his dream, at which point Neb. declared Daniel's God to be a "God of gods... Lord of kings" (Daniel 2:47). After Jehoiachin began to reign he only ruled 3 months before Neb. again laid siege to Jerusalem and established Zedekiah in the "eight year of his reign" (2 Kings 24:12; whose reign though- Neb.'s or Jehoiachin's?). Either way it would have been a while after Daniel interpreted the dream, so that was probably it. That event left a lasting impression on Neb.

Re: Lehi still at Jerusalem- It's possibly Lehi wasn't that rich and that when Nephi said his father's possessions were "exceedingly great" he was speaking relative to the poverty that was in Jerusalem at the time. It's also possible that Neb. didn't bring all the men of wealth out of Jerusalem, and/or that Lehi didn't live inside the walls of Jerusalem and that's where Neb. took the men of wealth from. Any other ideas?

Also, I wonder if Mulek was even alive when Neb. killed all of Zedekiah's sons. Zedekiah lived in prison until the day he died, but we know from the book of Ether that it's possible for kings to still have children while "imprisoned" (whatever that really meant for Zedekiah at the time). Mulek would have had to be young if he was alive beforehand- Zedekiah was 21 when he began to rule and ruled 11 years before the end of the siege- making him 32 when his sons were killed. His oldest son couldn't have been more than 16-17 years old.

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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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NoGreaterLove wrote:Since Mulek was Jewish and the rightful inheritor of the crown of Judah, that would mean any Lamanite who could trace their lineage back through Mulek would have that royal lineage in their blood.
The combining of Ephraim with Judah, the birthright (Ephraim) with the lawgiver (Judah). It was Judah that saved his younger brother's life when his other brothers wanted to kill him.
Was Joseph Smith of both of these lineages?
NGL,
You've shared some great research here, often. But I think Judah was the one who wanted to kill Joseph, and Reuben was the one who saved him. :)
I agree on the Mulek/ Lamanite/ Jews thing. That's why in another thread I was asking about who the "Jews" were--and especially the Book of Mormon jews. I wonder how that connection will play out in the latter days...

Matthew.B,
There is a paper by Chadwick about this, on the FARMS site. I don't agree with his conclusion, but the history part at the beginning gives a possible explanation.
But it could have been something else.
Good question.

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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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JohnnyL wrote:
NoGreaterLove wrote:Since Mulek was Jewish and the rightful inheritor of the crown of Judah, that would mean any Lamanite who could trace their lineage back through Mulek would have that royal lineage in their blood.
The combining of Ephraim with Judah, the birthright (Ephraim) with the lawgiver (Judah). It was Judah that saved his younger brother's life when his other brothers wanted to kill him.
Was Joseph Smith of both of these lineages?
NGL,
You've shared some great research here, often. But I think Judah was the one who wanted to kill Joseph, and Reuben was the one who saved him. :)
I agree on the Mulek/ Lamanite/ Jews thing. That's why in another thread I was asking about who the "Jews" were--and especially the Book of Mormon jews. I wonder how that connection will play out in the latter days...

Matthew.B,
There is a paper by Chadwick about this, on the FARMS site. I don't agree with his conclusion, but the history part at the beginning gives a possible explanation.
But it could have been something else.
Good question.
Wow, my memory is failing me. You may be right, I will have to look. Thanks for the correction.

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

Post by NoGreaterLove »

JohnnyL wrote:
NoGreaterLove wrote:Since Mulek was Jewish and the rightful inheritor of the crown of Judah, that would mean any Lamanite who could trace their lineage back through Mulek would have that royal lineage in their blood.
The combining of Ephraim with Judah, the birthright (Ephraim) with the lawgiver (Judah). It was Judah that saved his younger brother's life when his other brothers wanted to kill him.
Was Joseph Smith of both of these lineages?
NGL,
You've shared some great research here, often. But I think Judah was the one who wanted to kill Joseph, and Reuben was the one who saved him. :)
I agree on the Mulek/ Lamanite/ Jews thing. That's why in another thread I was asking about who the "Jews" were--and especially the Book of Mormon jews. I wonder how that connection will play out in the latter days...

Matthew.B,
There is a paper by Chadwick about this, on the FARMS site. I don't agree with his conclusion, but the history part at the beginning gives a possible explanation.
But it could have been something else.
Good question.

It was this reference I was talking about.
Genesis 37:

26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Re: Mulek being of the house of David- it was a too-quick reading of 2 Kings 24:17, where I assumed the antecedent of "his" was King Neb. as opposed to King Jehoiachin who was carried into Babylon. Darn confusing pronouns...
That took me some time to digest too. My first conclusion was the same as yours. It took me hours to find out the answer.

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NoGreaterLove
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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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Matthew.B wrote:Re: Mulek being of the house of David- it was a too-quick reading of 2 Kings 24:17, where I assumed the antecedent of "his" was King Neb. as opposed to King Jehoiachin who was carried into Babylon. Darn confusing pronouns...

Re: changing Mattaniah's name to Zedekiah- it looks like King Neb. besieged Jerusalem the first time in the first year of his reign (2 Kings 24:1, Daniel 1:1), and in the second year of King Neb.'s reign Daniel interpreted his dream, at which point Neb. declared Daniel's God to be a "God of gods... Lord of kings" (Daniel 2:47). After Jehoiachin began to reign he only ruled 3 months before Neb. again laid siege to Jerusalem and established Zedekiah in the "eight year of his reign" (2 Kings 24:12; whose reign though- Neb.'s or Jehoiachin's?). Either way it would have been a while after Daniel interpreted the dream, so that was probably it. That event left a lasting impression on Neb.

Re: Lehi still at Jerusalem- It's possibly Lehi wasn't that rich and that when Nephi said his father's possessions were "exceedingly great" he was speaking relative to the poverty that was in Jerusalem at the time. It's also possible that Neb. didn't bring all the men of wealth out of Jerusalem, and/or that Lehi didn't live inside the walls of Jerusalem and that's where Neb. took the men of wealth from. Any other ideas?

Also, I wonder if Mulek was even alive when Neb. killed all of Zedekiah's sons. Zedekiah lived in prison until the day he died, but we know from the book of Ether that it's possible for kings to still have children while "imprisoned" (whatever that really meant for Zedekiah at the time). Mulek would have had to be young if he was alive beforehand- Zedekiah was 21 when he began to rule and ruled 11 years before the end of the siege- making him 32 when his sons were killed. His oldest son couldn't have been more than 16-17 years old.
Maybe Mulek hid at Lehi's house. LOL

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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

Post by buffalo_girl »

Zedekiah was 'appointed' to be king over Judea & Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.

http://jbq.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploa ... dekiah.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Babylon became the dominant force in the region - subjecting both Egypt & Assyria who occupied Judea by previous invasion. Prior to Zedekiah's rule the temple had been ransacked, aristocracy, notable citizens, an army of 7,000 Judeans, & over 1,000 craftsmen were carried captive to Babylon.

When Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah to rule he did so with the mandate of absolute loyalty to Babylon. He did have the power. Jeremiah warned Zedekiah to respect the mandate - not to ally Judea with either Egypt or Assyria against Babylon.

Zedekiah foolishly joined with Egypt in an attempt to overthrow Babylonian dominance in the region. It was in the 11th year of Zedekiah's reign that Babylon broke through the walls of Jerusalem, and burned the Temple. Zedekiah fled but was captured, his sons killed before him, and then his eyes put out.

Mulek may have been yet unborn or a fairly young child who managed to escape with other lesser members of the royal household.

Although occupied by an enemy force when Lehi left in 597-596BC, Jerusalem's common population was left to continue their lives as they would have only under foreign rule. Perhaps even wicked people like Laban didn't break into the homes of other prominent folk and take anything laying about. When he saw the stuff carried into his own home, well...that's a different story.

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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

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I'm of the opinion the Mulek had Greek hired hands helping him in his efforts to escape by sea to the West.

The names Timothy, Lachoneus, Antipas and Pachus are all Greek in origin.

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Re: Why was Lehi in Jerusalem?

Post by JohnnyL »

NoGreaterLove wrote:
JohnnyL wrote:
NoGreaterLove wrote:Since Mulek was Jewish and the rightful inheritor of the crown of Judah, that would mean any Lamanite who could trace their lineage back through Mulek would have that royal lineage in their blood.
The combining of Ephraim with Judah, the birthright (Ephraim) with the lawgiver (Judah). It was Judah that saved his younger brother's life when his other brothers wanted to kill him.
Was Joseph Smith of both of these lineages?
NGL,
You've shared some great research here, often. But I think Judah was the one who wanted to kill Joseph, and Reuben was the one who saved him. :)
I agree on the Mulek/ Lamanite/ Jews thing. That's why in another thread I was asking about who the "Jews" were--and especially the Book of Mormon jews. I wonder how that connection will play out in the latter days...
Wow, my memory is failing me. You may be right, I will have to look. Thanks for the correction.
Yeah... My wife and my little one each corrected me in FHE.

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