Shule: A Book of Mormon Hero

I wish we knew more about Shule.  Everything we read in this chapter about him suggests that he was a great man of God.  He clearly lived a difficult life.  He was born into captivity where his father Kib was being held prisoner by Corihor.  When he was old enough, Shule “waxed strong, and became mighty as to the strength of a man; and he was also mighty in judgment” (Ether 7:8).  He organized forces to rebel against Cohor and “obtained the kingdom and restored it unto his father Kib” (Ether 7:9).  He showed great selflessness by being willing to sacrifice his own life in order to restore the kingdom to his father.  When his father died, Shule became king and incredibly forgave his brother Corihor, giving him power in his kingdom.  It would take quite the man to be able to forgive his brother who had put his father in captivity for decades.  It would seem at this point that the story of Shule would be over, but it wasn’t.  Corihor’s son Noah “rebelled against Shule, the king, and also his father Corihor” and Shule was put back in Moron where he had grown up in captivity and was locked up.  This time Noah was even more cruel than his father had been and he was “about to put [Shule] to death” (Ether 7:18).  But Shule must have had great faith in the Lord for his sons miraculously provided him a way to escape at the last minute and he was restored back to his throne like his father had been (both were saved by their sons).  We read that then Shule protected the prophets of the Lord who came amongst them, thus causing the people to repent.  The finally summary of Shule’s life is this: “he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days” (Ether 7:27).  I think he’s really one of the unsung heroes of the Book of Mormon and likely this description of King Benjamin could have fit him as well: he “was a holy man, and he did reign over his people in righteousness” (Words of Mormon 1:17).