The Book of Jarom () is the fifth of the books that make up the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude d ...

. According to the text it was written by

Jarom According to the Book of Mormon, Jarom () was a Nephite prophet, the son of the prophet Enos, who lived from about 420 BC to about 361 BC. Jarom is thought to have authored the Book of Jarom, which comprises 15 verses in the Book of Mormon. Famil ...

, who was the son of Enos and a descendant of

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

, the brother of the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

Nephi. The Book of Jarom is very short, consisting of only fifteen verses covering the years from 399 to 361 BC. Jarom was the son of

Enos Enos or Enosh (Hebrew: , Standard ''Enosh'', Tiberian ''ʼĔnôš''; "mortal man”) may refer to: People in religious scripture * Enos (biblical figure), a genealogical figure in the Bible. * The Book of Enos, one of the books that make up the B ...

, and the grandson of

, and the great-grandson of Lehi. He kept the commandment of his father to preserve the plates, and in turn he commanded his son Omni to preserve the plates. In the meantime, he inscribed these few verses on them. Jarom declares that he would not write his prophesies and revelations because there is nothing he could add to the plan of salvation that his forefathers didn't already write first. Besides which, there was not enough room left on these plates to write very much. But Jarom recommends that his readers go to the other plates that have all the records of the wars between the

Nephites According to the Book of Mormon, the Nephites () are one of four groups (along with the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) to have settled in the ancient Americas. The term is used throughout the Book of Mormon to describe the religious, po ...

and Lamanites. Jarom says most of the Nephites have stiff necks (i.e., like a stubborn ox which will not turn), but God is merciful to them and he has not destroyed them yet. And there are even some Nephites who do not have stiff necks, and they have communion with the Holy Spirit. Despite having stiff necks, the Nephites have grown in population and keep the law of Moses. The Nephites withstood numerous assaults by the Lamanites, and fortified their cities against them. The essence of what Jarom wrote is that the Nephites did decide to obey the commandments of God and they did not get wiped off the face of the Earth as his father feared they would.

Blood drinking

Jarom says the Lamanites vastly outnumbered the Nephites, loved murder, and would even drink the blood of animals. The latter is a violation of Mosaic law, the

shechita In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; he, ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. Sources states that sheep and cattle should be slaughtere ...

or ritual kosher slaughter, as referenced in Deuteronomy 12:22, where it states "''Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.''", and a preceding verse which states "''Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water.''" (Deut. 12:15-16). This may be taken as an indication that the Lamanites have strayed far from the Law of Moses.

Record Legacy

The record (a metal book written on sheets of gold) was passed through generations. Nephi, the writer of First and Second Nephi, forged the plates to write prophecies and spiritual teachings. Nephi passed them to his brother Jacob (Jacob 1:1-4), who passed them to his son Enos (Jacob 7:27), who passed them to his son Jarom (Jarom 1:1). (See Omni for more generations)

References

External links

''The Book of Jarom'' from The official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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