There Came A Man Among the People of Nephi

The introduction to the story of Sherem recorded in Jacob 7 reads this way: “And now it came to pass after some years had passed away, there came a man among the people of Nephi, whose name was Sherem” (v1). This seems to suggest that this man came from somewhere else. So where did he come from? We know that at this time it was at least 55 years since Lehi left Jerusalem, but it likely was several decades later since his story is recorded at the end of Jacob’s record (Jacob 1:1). We learn that Sherem knew the Nephite language very well: “He was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil” (v4). We also read that he was a believer in the law of Moses, for he said to Jacob, “Ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God, and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years hence” (v7). He also declared that he believed the scriptures, though of course he denied the existence of Christ (v10). All of these facts suggest that he was deeply familiar with the Nephite culture and beliefs.

                I see four possibilities for the origin of Sherem. First, it is possible that he was a Nephite who had left the people in the land of Nephi for some time and then came back. Perhaps he joined the Lamanites for a time or went off on his own and then, inspired by the devil, came back among them to preach against Christ. A second possibility is that he was a Lamanite. Although it is unlikely in my mind, it is perhaps possible that several decades after their split with the Nephites they still had some knowledge of or belief in the law of Moses which helped Sherem learn these things. It is interesting that as soon as Sherem’s story is finished the next statement from Jacob is this: “And it came to pass that many means were devised to reclaim and restore the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth” (v24). This comes without any real transition, so it is possible that Jacob naturally moved to talking about the Lamanites as a whole because this man was Lamanite himself. He would have had to have been a unique Lamanite, though, for the majority sought to fight and destroy the Nephites instead of preach to them. A third possibility is that Sherem was not an Israelite at all and was native to the land before Lehi’s group arrived. That people existed there before the Nephites is certainly very likely, but it does seem hard in that case to see how he would have learned the Nephite language and religion so well. Also the fact that he said he believed the scriptures would indicate he had had them at some time in some form, which seems unlikely for someone not of Nephite or Lamanite origin.

                The last possibility is perhaps the most interesting: could it be that Sherem was a Mulekite? We know that the Mulekites arrived later than the Nephites and were significantly north of them in the land of Zarahemla. Jeruasalem fell around 587 BC and that likely was when Mulek’s party left, giving them plenty of time to arrive and be on the scene when Jacob was writing this somewhere around 545 BC or later. Although we know that the Mulekites “had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator” at the time that Mosiah found them several hundred years later, it still seems possible that they brought some kind of parchment or other material with scriptures on them which lasted decades but not centuries (Omni 1:17). If Sherem was from them and had gone off wandering on his own, inspired no doubt by the devil, it is possible that he still believed the law of Moses as taught by his fathers coming out of Jerusalem and that their language had not yet been too corrupted. This would explain how he understood the Nephite language, culture, and religion in order to be so effective a voice among them for a time.

Of course we can’t know for sure, and wherever he came from to be among the Nephites the lesson for us is clear: contrary to Sherem’s teachings, the scriptures do testify of Christ, and the Son of God did come in the meridian of time to make an atonement to save all mankind. We must protect ourselves from the anti-Christs of our day who seek to deny the existence and divinity of Christ and lead us away from Him. We do that as we “search the scriptures” and do not hearken to the words of the wicked around us (v23). As Jacob so powerfully taught many years earlier, it is Christ’s voice that we must heed and none else: “he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam” (2 Nephi 9:21).