Their Wives and Their Children

One of the themes of the story of the people of Zeniff, Noah, and Limhi is the suffering of innocent women and children. It started with Zeniff’s first expedition when “father fought against father, and brother against brother, until the greater number of our army was destroyed in the wilderness.” After so many senseless deaths he recorded, “We returned, those of us that were spared, to the land of Zarahemla, to relate that tale to their wives and their children” (Mosiah 9:2). The wives and children of those who fought amongst themselves suffered the loss of their husbands and fathers—and perhaps the means to fully provide for themselves—because of the violence. Later when Zeniff was settled in the land of Nephi with his people, they fought against the Lamanites and the women and children again suffered. He recorded what must have been a harrowing experience for them: “And it came to pass that I caused that the women and children of my people should be hid in the wilderness” (Mosiah 10:9). They were hiding unprotected in the wilderness while their men fought the Lamanites, and surely they were praying desperately that the Lamanites would not make it to them. Later when Noah was fleeing with his people from the Lamanites, it was the women and children who were abandoned by most of the men: “Now it came to pass that the king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites” (Mosiah 19:11). Gratefully the Lamanites did not slaughter them, but Noah had left them to be killed. How terribly frightening it must have been for them to see that they were being deserted to their enemies by those who should have been protecting them!

Later when Limhi ruled the people and they sought to free themselves from the Lamanites through force, Mormon highlighted again how the women and children suffered. After their first failed attempt to fight the Lamanites, “There was a great mourning and lamentation among the people of Limhi, the widow mourning for her husband, the son and the daughter mourning for their father, and the brothers for their brethren.” They tried two more times, and each time they lost more men and left the women and children more vulnerable: “Now there were a great many widows in the land, and they did cry mightily from day to day, for a great fear of the Lamanites had come upon them.” To his credit Limhi did try to take care of them, but clearly there was much suffering among the most defenseless part of their society: “Now there was a great number of women, more than there was of men; therefore king Limhi commanded that every man should impart to the support of the widows and their children, that they might not perish with hunger; and this they did because of the greatness of their number that had been slain” (Mosiah 21:9-10, 17). Their stories highlight the terrible effect of war upon women and children. Because the men were so eager to obtain the “good” land right in the middle of the Lamanites, three generations of women and children suffered the effects of war and surely were emotionally scarred because of it.

It is not surprising that Mormon chose to highlight what was happening to the women and children in the midst of all of this violence, for he similarly saw the terrible toll that war took upon the innocent. In his own account he commented on how they suffered in his day. For example, he watched the utter brutality of the Lamanites as they “did take many prisoners both women and children, and did offer them up as sacrifices unto their idol gods” (Mormon 4:14). He surely witnessed countless atrocities towards women and children during the decades of war, and I believe that Mormon wanted us to see the need to protect and respect them. We must learn to see the effect of our actions not just on ourselves but on all those around us, and we can strive to choose what will safeguard and bless those who are affected by our decisions.