The two thousand stripling warriors, also known as The Army of Helaman, are an army of young men in 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 ...

, first mentioned in the

Book of Alma The Book of Alma: The Son of Alma (), usually referred to as the Book of Alma, is one of the books that make up the Book of Mormon. The title refers to Alma the Younger, a prophet and "chief judge" of the Nephites. Alma is the longest book in the ...

.''The Book of Mormon''. . "

Stripling Stripling may refer to: People *Byron Stripling (born 1961), trumpet player, vocalist, & bandleader * Jon Stripling, bass player *Kathryn Stripling Byer (1944–2017), author * Randy Stripling, actor * Robert E. Stripling (died 1991), American civ ...

" is an archaic word meaning adolescent youth. They are portrayed as extremely valiant and loyal warriors; in the text, all are wounded in battle and yet survive.

Book of Mormon

Historical roots

The story of the stripling warriors presents a juxtaposition of

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

among believers. Four of the sons of Mosiah, including

Ammon Ammon (Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; he, עַמּוֹן ''ʻAmmōn''; ar, عمّون, ʻAmmūn) was an ancient Semitic-speaking nation occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Arnon and Jabbok, in p ...

, were converted miraculously from rebellious youth into believers. Ammon and his brothers embark on a mission to the

land of Nephi In the Book of Mormon, the land of Lehi-Nephi (; also referred to as the land of Nephi) is the homeland of the Nephites in the early times of the Book of Mormon. The land is later conquered by the Lamanites, and the remaining Nephites flee to the ...

, and his

converts Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

there lay down their lives during attacks by their brethren, which leads to additional conversions. They refuse to take arms due to their conversion. The missionaries and Lamanite converts migrate to Nephite lands, where they are protected by the Nephite military.''The Book of Mormon''.

Formation of the unit

The

Ammonites Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

(or

Anti-Nephi-Lehies According to the Book of Mormon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies () were an ethnic group of Lamanites formed around 90 BC, after a significant religious conversion. They made a covenant that they would not participate in war, and buried their weapons. Eventu ...

) were Lamanites who were converted to Christianity by Ammon, the son of Mosiah. Ammon served a fourteen-year mission among the Lamanites and converted thousands. These people were ferocious and bloodthirsty, and had murdered and plundered not only the Nephites but their own people. Once converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ they buried their weapons of war and covenanted "that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood" and "rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would give up their own lives".. The remaining unconverted Lamanites began to murder them. When Ammon saw this he moved the Ammonites to a Nephite territory called Jershon so they could be protected by the Nephite army. When the people of Ammon saw how the Nephite army suffered in defending them, they considered breaking their oath to lay down their weapons and defend themselves;

Helaman The Book of Mormon mentions three men named Helaman ( ). The first was the son of King Benjamin, king of the united Nephite-Zarahemla kingdom who lived in the 2nd century BC. Besides his genealogy, information about the first Helaman is limite ...

persuaded them not to break their oath. Two thousand of their sons (who had been too young at the time to have made the covenant) volunteered to fight for the defense of the Nephites and the Ammonites. The young men asked Helaman, the son of

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 Elde ...

and a leader of the church among the Nephites, to be their commander. The young stripling warriors fought alongside the Nephite army and were one of the Nephites' most effective military units. Though every soldier was wounded at one time or another, there were no fatalities among the warriors. Helaman attributed this to the upbringing provided by their mothers and the great

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

they exhibited. The original 2,000 "sons of Helaman" were later joined by sixty more, making a total of 2,060.

References

{{reflist, 2 Book of Mormon people Book of Mormon words and phrases

Book of Mormon

Historical roots

Formation of the unit

See also

References