Nephihah, an Unsung Hero

In the Book of Mormon at the start of the ninth year of the reign of the judges, Alma, who had served as the chief judge since the days of King Mosiah, relinquished the judgment seat so he could focus on teaching the people the gospel.  We read that “he selected a wise man who was among the elders of the church, and gave him power according to the voice of the people…. Now this man’s name was Nephihah, and he was appointed chief judge; and he sat in the judgment-seat to judge and to govern the people” (Alma 4:16-17).  Just over fifteen years later, near the end of the “twenty and fourth year,” Nephihah died and his son Pahoran took over his place as the chief judge (Alma 50:39-40).  Though we know essentially nothing about where Nephihah came from and there are only a few details about his service as the chief judge, we do see that he was a righteous and good Nephite leader at a challenging time in their history.          

               Mormon described Nephihah at the beginning of his service as chief judge as “a wise man” who was one of the elders of the church, and at the end of his life Mormon wrote that he “filled the judgment-seat with perfect uprightness before God” (Alma 50:37).  Clearly he was a righteous man who sought to lead the Nephites according to the will of the Lord.  Between these bookend descriptions we see that he certainly faced his share of challenges.  In the eleventh year the Nephite city of Ammonihah was completely wiped out by the Lamanites (a people which admitted to being under his reign in Alma 8:12).  Around the fourteenth year he had to handle the influx of thousands of Lamanite converts from the mission of the sons of Mosiah.  He showed great wisdom and love in how he dealt with this delicate issue: “the chief judge sent a proclamation throughout all the land, desiring the voice of the people concerning the admitting their brethren, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi” (Alma 27:21).  He wanted to help the refugees but he also realized he needed the people’s support to do it, which he obtained likely because of his persuasions in that proclamation.  In the fifteenth year “there was a tremendous battle; yea, even, such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land,” and it caused a “tremendous slaughter among the Nephites” (Alma 28:2-3).  Surely that was a terribly trying time for him as so many of his people died. 

In the sixteenth year Korihor came among them preaching against Christ.  Though he was not the spiritual leader, Nephihah was there beside Alma in the confrontation with Korihor and posed these powerful questions to Korihor after the unbeliever was struck dumb: “Art thou convinced of the power of God? In whom did ye desire that Alma should show forth his sign? Would ye that he should afflict others, to show unto thee a sign? Behold, he has showed unto you a sign; and now will ye dispute more?” (Alma 30:51)  Nephihah knew the dangers of Korihor’s ideology, and we read that a “proclamation was sent forth by the chief judge to all the people in the land, declaring unto those who had believed in the words of Korihor that they must speedily repent” (Alma 30:57).  He did not hesitate to warn his people of the spiritual dangers he saw and call them to repentance.  At the same time as this difficulty, the Zoramites were becoming apostates and were threatening to “enter into a correspondence with the Lamanites,” surely a cause of great concern for the chief judge (Alma 31:4).  In the eighteenth year the Lamanites came again among the Nephites to battle with them, being led by some of the wicked Zoramites.  Then in the nineteenth year Amalickiah conspired to be king and many were led away by him, causing enormous problems for the Nephites and ultimately starting the war up again between the Lamanites and Nephites.  At the end of that nineteenth year the Lamanites came again against the Nephites and tried to attack them.  In the twenty-first year the Nephite Morianton sought to take over the land of Bountiful and the land northward but was ultimately headed off by Teancum.  Indeed, Nephihah’s tenure was filled with wars and great difficulties on every side.  But he stayed faithful and led the people as a great leader and in “perfect uprightness” through all of these challenges.  At the end of his life the people’s esteem for him was such that they built a city named after him (see Alma 50:14).  He is surely one of the unsung heroes of the Book of Mormon.