The Example of Orihah

The Book of Mormon gives us very few details about Orihah, the first Jaredite king, and yet I think there are lessons to be learned from his story.  Towards the end of the lives of Jared and the brother of Jared, the people “desired of them that they should anoint one of their sons to be a king over them.”  The brother of Jared was hesitant to do this, but Jared argued they should comply, and they people declared that they wanted Pagag, the oldest son of the brother of Jared, to serve as their king.  He refused, as did all of the sons of the brother of Jared (we don’t know how many sons he had, but he did have 22 total children).  The people then looked to the four sons of Jared: Jacom, Gilgah, Mahah, and Orihah.”  Jacom, Gilgah, and Mahah all turned down the opportunity to be king, but Orihah accepted to serve in this capacity (Ether 1:14-27).  From the order of the sons of Jared given it appears that Orihah was the youngest and likely the last pick of the people after all of the sons of the brother of Jared and his three brothers had declined.  We can’t assume that there was any pride in Orihah’s acceptance to be king, for a later verse tells us, “Orihah did walk humbly before the Lord” (Ether 6:30).  Rather, being the very last option for the people he may have felt that he needed to say yes.  If he didn’t, who would?  I believe he had the same attitude as Nephi when his people asked him to be king: “And it came to pass that they would that I should be their king. But I, Nephi, was desirous that they should have no king; nevertheless, I did for them according to that which was in my power” (2 Nephi 5:18).  Nephi reluctantly accepted because he wanted to serve his people, and I believe that Orihah similarly agreed in order to be of service to the Jaredites. 

               We only have a few verses that tell us about Orihah’s service as king, but they show his righteousness and devotion to the Lord.  First of all, he was clearly successful in his responsibilities as the king and leader of the people, for during his reign, “the people began to prosper; and they became exceedingly rich” (Ether 6:28).  There was peace in the land and no wars or contentions are mentioned.  His service was summed up simply, “Orihah did execute judgment upon the land in righteousness all his days” (Ether 7:1).  I believe the key to his success was what Moroni described in the most important verse about Orihah’s life: “[He] did remember how great things the Lord had done for his father, and also taught his people how great things the Lord had done for their fathers” (Ether 6:30).  He did two things in particular: he remembered how the Lord had delivered Jared from the tower of Babel and brought the people to the promised land, and he also taught this to his people so that they too would remember.  While we can’t be certain from the text, I believe that Orihah was born before the miraculous journey in the barges across the sea and thus experienced it personally and was testifying of his own witness of the Lord’s goodness.  (He and his brothers aren’t mentioned until after the arrival, but Moroni wrote in Ether 6:14, “And Jared had four sons” whereas in the next verse he wrote, “And the brother of Jared also begat sons and daughters,” suggesting I believe that Jared’s sons were born before the voyage but the brother of Jared’s were begat afterwards).  Either way, whether he had experienced the miracles of the journey or only heard them from his father, he actively remembered them and sought to pass on this testimony of the goodness of the Lord to his people.  His example I believe teaches us that we too must seek to learn about and remember the ways that the Lord blesses us and our families personally.  And then we need to pass on that testimony to future generations so they too can remember the goodness of God and the blessings He has given our families.  And Orihah was clearly successful in this, for we read of his righteous grandson Shule many years later: “He remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land” (Ether 7:27).