This article is about Laman and Lemuel, the sons of Lehi in the Book of Mormon. For other uses, see Lemuel (disambiguation)

Lemuel (disambiguation)

Lemuel is a Hebrew name, meaning "devoted to God", and it may refer to:* Lemuel Gulliver* Lemuel , mentioned in the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31* Lemuel , the second eldest of Lehi's sons and the brother of Laman and Nephi...

 and Laman (disambiguation)

Laman (disambiguation)

-People:*Karl Edvard Laman, Swedish missionary and ethnographer*Laman and Lemuel, figures in the Book of Mormon-Places:*Laman, Azerbaijan**Laman, Khachmaz, Azerbaijan**Laman, Lerik, Azerbaijan...

.

In the Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...

, Laman and Lemuel are the two eldest sons of Lehi and the older brothers of Sam

Sam (Book of Mormon)

In the Book of Mormon, Sam was the third son of Lehi, and elder brother to the prophet Nephi. Early in the Book of Mormon narrative, Nephi confided in Sam. Lehi saw Sam in his vision of the tree of life, noting that he ate the precious fruit, symbolizing the righteousness of Sam, and that he...

, Nephi

Nephi

According to the Book of Mormon, Nephi was the son of Lehi, a prophet, founder of the Nephite people, and author of the first two books of the Book of Mormon, First and Second Nephi.- Early life :Nephi was the fourth of six sons of Lehi and Sariah...

, Jacob, and Joseph

Joseph (Book of Mormon)

In the Book of Mormon, Joseph is a priest, and a younger brother of the Prophets Nephi and Jacob.-Family:See also Joseph ....

. According to the text, they lived around 600 BC

6th century BC

The 6th century BC started the first day of 600 BC and ended the last day of 501 BC.Pāṇini, in India, composed a grammar for Sanskrit, in this century or slightly later...

. They were notable for their rebellion against Lehi and Nephi, becoming the primary antagonists of the First and Second Books of Nephi. They and their descendants became known as the Lamanites, while the descendants of Nephi and their other brothers became the Nephite

Nephite

According to the Book of Mormon, a Nephite is a member of one of the four main groups of settlers of the ancient Americas. The other three groups are the Lamanites, Jaredites and Mulekites. In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites were a group of people descended from or associated with Nephi, the...

s.

Laman was Lehi's first-born son. He rejected the teachings of his father (in particular Lehi's prophecy of the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem in 600 BC). He and Lemuel persecuted and beat their brothers Sam and Nephi, who supported Lehi. Because God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 chose Nephi to lead Lehi's descendants after his death, Laman maintained that he had been robbed of his birthright

Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...

, resulting in constant wars between the two peoples for nearly 600 years.

God intervening

In the Book of Mormon there are incidences of Laman and Lemuel beating or binding up Nephi. On the first occurrence, when they were beating Nephi and Sam with a rod, it tells how an angel visited the brothers, and the angel rebuked Laman and Lemuel. On other occasions, Laman and Lemuel were chastened by the voice of the Lord, or "shocked" by divine power.

River of Laman and Valley of Lemuel

In , Lehi's party makes its way from Jerusalem towards the promised land. Verse 5 says that Lehi "came down by the borders near the shore of the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

; and he traveled in the wilderness in the borders which are nearer the Red Sea." The group traveled for three more days after they had reached the waters of the Red Sea before making camp. At this point, they make camp "in a valley by the side of a river of water." Verses 8-10 read:
Given the rarity of continuously flowing rivers in any part of Saudi Arabia, the existence of a river such as that described in the Book of Mormon has long been questioned by its critics. However, a candidate for the location accepted by several LDS scholars was discovered in May 1995.

Etymology

"Lemuel" (Hebrew:לְמוּאֵל) is the name of a Biblical king mentioned in Proverbs

Book of Proverbs

The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...

 31:1 and 4, but otherwise unknown. In verse 4, it says, "Give not to kings, O Lemuel, give not wine to kings ..." The discourse, which is an exhortation to chastity

Chastity

Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....

 and temperance

Temperance (virtue)

Temperance has been studied by religious thinkers, philosophers, and more recently, psychologists, particularly in the positive psychology movement. It is considered a virtue, a core value that can be seen consistently across time and cultures...

, appears to end with verse 9, but might continue through the end of the chapter.

Family