The Jaredite Civil War
According to Ether, over 2 million men, plus their wives and children perished during the final civil war on just one side (Ether 15:2). It is difficult to comprehend, using modern warfare tactics of the 19th – 21st Centuries, how two armies can battle down to 30 people (Ether 9:12) before someone decides to end the battle.
The difference lies in war strategy and technology. Today, we can target specific people, however, when the leader falls, another takes his place. In the days of the Jaredites, the war ended with the death or capture of the king. The preferred methodology was capture. Consider how many sons imprisoned their fathers or vice versa, and kept them there until they died or were freed.
The warfare tactics found in Ether make more sense when compared to Asiatic warfare.
- Every war is strictly a personal contest between kings and the battle will continue until one falls or is captured.
- The tactics of battle are arranged so that the king is the last to fall. Consider the game of chess, where the king is very immobile, but all hinges on keeping him safe. The King is never really killed; he is captured at the end when he is forced into a position with no escape.
Consider the final war between Shiz and Coriantumr. The circle of warriors, “large and mighty men as to the strength of men” (Ether 15:26), that fought around the king to the last man, represent an ancient institution call the sacred “shieldwall,” which our Norse ancestors learned from their Asian cousins.
How ironic is our personal battles that drive us into isolation, anxiety, and fear. We often choose to engage in contention (war) because we perceive a personal offense has occurred that was actually impersonal. Our pride (King) demands a call to arms. Since our king is the last to fall, we fight on and on until all our virtues are swept away and the only remaining reason to fight is lost in the struggle.
