According to 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 date ...

, King Noah was a wicked monarch best known for burning the prophet

Abinadi According to the Book of Mormon, Abinadi () was a prophet who lived on the American continent about 150 BC. In the Book of Mormon account, Abinadi visited the court of King Noah at Lehi-Nephi, and pleaded for them to repent of their iniquity and ...

at the stake. King Noah, described in the

Book of Mosiah The Book of Mosiah () is one of the books which make up the Book of Mormon. The title refers to Mosiah II, a king of the Nephites at Zarahemla. The book covers the time period between ''ca'' 130 BC and 91 BC, except for when the book has a flashb ...

, is said to have presided over a wicked kingdom guided by false

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

s. Noah succeeds his father

Zeniff Zeniff () is a minor but pivotal person in the Book of Mormon. According to the Book of Mormon, his lineage is uncertain other than he came from a group of Nephites which included Nephites, Zoramites, and Mulekites. He left Zarahemla with a large ...

, and is succeeded by his son

Limhi In the Book of Mormon, Limhi () was the third and final king of the second Nephite habitation of the land of Lehi-Nephi. He succeeded his father, Noah. Led by Ammon (a mulekite) Limhi escaped from the Lamanites with his people to the land of Zara ...

Lineage

Noah's father Zeniff

Noah's father,

, led a group of Nephites into the land of their 'first inheritance' (the land originally settled by Lehi and his descendants upon their arrival in the Americas). Zeniff had made an agreement with the Lamanites in the area, but wars between the two peoples inevitably ensued. Upon his death Zeniff conferred the kingdom on Noah, who seems to have been far less diligent in preparing and protecting his people against their enemies than his father. Noah was an extremely wicked man, and he taxed his people heavily, spending the money on extravagances and wickedness. Possibly the greatest wrong he did his subjects, however, was to teach them to follow his own wicked ways. He deposed the righteous priests who had been appointed by his father and replaced them with prideful ones. Through vanity and flattery, they led the people to commit the same sins that they themselves did. Some of the sins that are listed are pride, laziness, idolatry, whoredoms, adultery, drunkenness, and riotous living.

The prophet Abinadi

The prophet Abinadi was sent to preach repentance to Noah's people but was not immediately successful. He was imprisoned and taken before King Noah and his priests. They attempted to "cross him" (or prove him a liar) by asking difficult questions concerning the interpretation of scriptures, including an excerpt from

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

, but were unable to do so. Abinadi began to teach them the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

and they attempted to "do away with him" but were unable to touch him because he was protected by the power of God. He continued to teach them the rest of the Ten Commandments, as well as to interpret further writings of Isaiah and teach them about

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. He finished by testifying that redemption comes through Christ. Abinadi, having delivered his message, was executed by fire. As he was dying, he prophesied that Noah and his priests would suffer death in a similar manner.

The priest Alma

One of the priests of Noah, a young man named

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

, believed Abinadi's words and pleaded with the king to spare the prophet's life. Alma was cast out and was forced to hide so that the servants of the king would not kill him. He taught the words of Abinadi to more of the people, and many believed him. He also became a great prophet and religious leader among the rest of the Nephites later in his life. Hence, Abinadi was successful in his mission although he died a martyr and only one man believed his teachings. King Noah's wickedness and oppression of his people continued. Alma and his followers left Noah's people and the king's army were unable to follow them. A minority of Noah's people became angry with him, including a man named Gideon who swore to kill the king. They fought, and Noah saw that he was about to lose so he fled to a tower. From the top of the tower, he saw an army of Lamanites about to attack and convinced Gideon to spare him so that he could lead the people to safety.

Limhi becomes king

Noah and his people fled but were unable to escape the Lamanites. He ordered them to leave their wives and children behind. Some did, while others did not. They were captured by the Lamanites and returned to their lands, where they were taxed one half of all they owned and produced. They made Noah's son,

, their king. Those who abandoned their families and stayed with Noah were sorry for their choice. They turned on Noah and his priests. They burned Noah to death, but his priests ran away and hid in the wilderness. The men then returned, determined to find out what had happened to their families and to avenge them or die with them. They rejoined Limhi's people. Limhi ruled over his people in captivity for some time. Eventually they escaped and rejoined the main body of the Nephites in

Zarahemla According to the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Zarahemla () refers to a large city in the ancient Americas which is described in the Book of Mormon. Archaeologists and historians have not been able to archaeological ...

, as did Alma and his followers. Their story of the wickedness of King Noah and the consequences for his people was most likely a great motivation for the people in accepting King Mosiah's proposition that kingship be done away with among the Nephites. At the death of Mosiah, kings were replaced with a system of lesser and chief judges. The first chief judge was Alma (known as

Alma the Younger According to the Book of Mormon, Alma, the son of Alma () was a Nephite prophet often referred to as Alma the Younger to distinguish him from his father, who is often referred to as Alma the Elder. These appellations, "the Younger" and "the Elder ...

), the son of that Alma who had been a priest of King Noah.

References