The Book of Ether () is one of the books of 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 ...

. It describes the

Jaredites The Jaredites () are one of four peoples (along with the Nephites, Lamanites, and Mulekites) that the Latter-day Saints believe settled in ancient America. The Book of Mormon (mainly its Book of Ether) describes the Jaredites as the descenda ...

, descendants of

Jared Jared is a given name of Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the biblical patriarch Jared (יֶרֶד) was the sixth in the ten pre-flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Mahalaleel and the father of En ...

and his companions, who were led by God to the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

shortly after the

confusion of tongues The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

and the destruction of the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

. Ether consists of fifteen chapters. The title refers to

Ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again ...

, a Jaredite

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 ...

who, according to the Book of Mormon, lived at the end of the time period covered by the book, believed to be circa 2600 or 2100 BC through 600 BC or later, at least 1500 but possibly as long as 2500 years.

Narrative

Lineage of Ether

Jared → Orihah → Kib → Shule → Omer → Emer → Coriantum → Com → Heth → Shez → Riplakish → Morianton → Kim → Levi → Corom → Kish → Lib → Hearthom → Heth → Aaron → Amnigaddah → Coriantum → Com → Shiblon → Seth → Ahah → Ethem → Moron → Coriantor → Ether

Journey to America

and his people were among the many scattered peoples from the destruction of the

. The

brother of Jared In the Book of Mormon, the brother of Jared is the most prominent person in the account given in the beginning (Chapters 1–6) of the Book of Ether. The brother of Jared's name is not given in the text of the Book of Mormon but Joseph Smith state ...

is described as "a large and mighty man ... highly favored of the Lord", and seems to have been the spiritual leader of the group. He was given a vision of the history of the world, and inscribed prophecies, which were "sealed up" until the Lord decides to reveal them. The Lord told the brother of Jared to build unpowered submarines, termed "barges" or "vessels", to cross the ocean to the promised land. The barges could circulate fresh air because of openings in the top and bottom of the vessel. The hole in the top could be "stopped up" when the waves crashed over the vessel to prevent scuttling. The hole in the bottom is assumed to have been constructed as a sort of

moon pool A moon pool is a feature of marine drilling platforms, drillships and diving support vessels, some marine research and underwater exploration or research vessels, and underwater habitats, in which it is also known as a wet porch. It is an o ...

with the lip above the waterline so it would not flood the vessel. This would also allow wave action and the buoying of the vessel to pump fresh air in and out of the vessel when the upper opening was uncapped. Because the vessels could not sustain fire or windows for light, the brother of Jared went to a mountain and prayed for help. God touched several molten stones and made them shine. Because of the brother of Jared's great faith, he saw the finger of God. He then saw and spoke with Jehovah. The people launched the vessels and traveled through great storms. After 344 days, they arrived at

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. Jared and his brother led the people to successfully establish a righteous nation.

Parallels

The Book of Ether parallels in many ways the story of the Book of Mormon as a whole. A small group (Jared and his companions; Lehi and his family) separate themselves from a wicked society (the Tower of Babel; Jerusalem just prior to its destruction) and establish a new nation (the Jaredites; the Nephites) in "the promised land." In each case the group is divided following the death of the original leaders and the divisions contend for many generations. The fortunes of the nations are dependent upon their obedience to God—righteousness brings prosperity and wickedness brings destruction (sometimes delayed). Ultimately, the wicked prevail and the nation is destroyed. These parallels are often emphasized in

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects o ...

as applicable to the present day. The Americas are still considered "the promised land" and the continued prosperity of the present nations are believed to be contingent on the righteousness of their people.

Provenance

As the story is told in the Book of Mormon, what later was named the Book of Ether was taken from a set of twenty-four plates written by Ether and discovered by the people of Limhi during the time of King Mosiah (son of King Benjamin).

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, h ...

claimed the book was abridged by Moroni onto the

golden plates According to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates (also called the gold plates or in some 19th-century literature, the golden bible) are the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith. Some acco ...

, which Joseph Smith claimed to translate into English. However, according to

Daniel H. Ludlow Daniel Hansen Ludlow (March 17, 1924 – February 14, 2009) was a professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. He was also the chief editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'', published in 1992 by Macmillan. Biogr ...

, it is not clarified in the Book of Mormon whether Moroni made his abridgment of the record of Ether from Mosiah's earlier translation or whether Moroni took his account directly from the plates of Ether—in which case Joseph Smith would have needed to translate the record as well as abridge it.

, ''A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon'', p. 178

Notes

External links

*
''The Book of Ether'' from the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
* Event Diagram of the Book of Ether at Wikimedia Commons {{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of Ether