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Alma 51:17
The Know
On several occasions, Captain Moroni spoke of pulling down the pride of the political elite who were unwilling to fight for their country. For instance, when a group of dissenters known as king-men attempted to overthrow the government, Moroni âcommanded that his army should go against those king-men, to pull down their pride and their nobility and level them with the earthâ (Alma 51:17, emphasis added).1
Some may wonder where the imagery of pulling something down comes from and how it might be related to political power, pride, or nobility. It should first be noted that to âpull down,â âbring down,â âbreak down,â âthrow down,â or âcut downâ something in order to destroy or humble it is found in many biblical passages.2Â In many cases, the things that are brought low are inherently high or prideful, such as false idols, altars, lofty trees, towers, buildings, armies, mighty kingdoms, and noble rulers. Typically, the high thing is brought low to the earth, to the grave, into captivity, or even to a pit which is symbolic of hell. The Book of Mormon uses much of the same imagery.3
Perhaps Moroni recalled that a great and spacious building in Nephiâs vision represented the âpride of the worldâ and that âit fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly greatâ (1 Nephi 11:36).4Â Or maybe he was thinking of the âpompâ of Lucifer who had âfallen from heavenâ and was âcut to the groundâ (Isaiah 14:11â12). Whatever the case, his warning that the proud would be leveled to the earth seems to be right at home with a number of other scriptures dealing with the consequences of pride.
Studying the Book of Mormon in an ancient American setting may offer even more ways to view Moroniâs language. Like ancient Near Eastern rulers, Mesoamerican kings often sat on elevated thrones, which literally and symbolically raised them above their subjects.5 This may help explain why Moroni, after repeatedly condemning wicked rulers for sitting idly upon their thrones, concluded by saying, âI seek not for power, but to pull it downâ (Alma 60:36; emphasis added).6 In other words, pulling down pride may have been a metaphor for pulling down a ruler from off his throne.7
Yet thrones werenât the only raised objects which signified a rulerâs status. Mesoamerican kings also erected large stones called âstelaeâ which, among other things, recorded their accomplishments.8Â These inscribed stones (also called âbanner stonesâ) were conceptually linked to cloth war banners called âflap staffs.â The erection of stelae and the raising of flap staffs upon towers were ceremonial actions which held political and ritual significance among various Mesoamerican societies.9
That such rituals were also important to Book of Mormon peoples can be seen by the fact that Moroni compelled the dissenters to âhoist the title of liberty [a perfect example of a âflapstaffâ] upon their towers, and in their cities, and to take up arms in defence of their countryâ (Alma 51:20).10Thus, pulling down their pride was followed immediately by raising up a symbol of religious freedom. This suggests that Moroniâs imagery of pulling down pride may have been an idiom that directly contrasted with the raising up of ceremonial objects which were symbolic of kingship.11
Interestingly, when one group of people conquered another in ancient Mesoamerica, the conquerors would often pull down or destroy the monuments of past leaders and replace them with their own.12Â Excavators at Piedras Negras, for example, found that an elaborately carved throne had been âwillfully smashed and strewn about the chamber of the palaceâ after what was likely a âmilitary attack.â13Â In relation to the âproposed conquest of Tikal by Teotihuicanos and their Tikal alliesâ a stela depicting a âking stepping on a bound sacrificial victimâ was ritually decapitated.14
At Cholula, a group of large stone stelae were âthrown down and intentionally smashed.â15Â And in Copan, a stela inscription begins with a reference to the âtoppling of the Foundation House,â16David Stuart, an expert in ancient Mesoamerican inscriptions, interpreted this as âa possible metaphorical reference to the end of Copanâs ruling line.â17Â In light of these findings, Moroniâs metaphorical statements about pulling down the rulersâ pride seem to nicely fit an ancient American context.
The Why
The problem with the king-men in the time of Captain Moroni was that they felt their social status granted them special privileges. Their pride led them to selfishly stand by and watch as the common people bled and died on the battlefield to preserve their rights and freedoms. Moroniâs stern rebuke and swift military action is a reminder that God will not always tolerate injustice. It also shows that the eventual fall of those who exercise unlawful dominion will be tremendous, which is dramatically visualized in the idea of prideful monuments being âpulled down.â
President Ezra Taft Benson referred to pride as the âuniversal sinâ and âthe great vice.â18Â Similarly, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught, âPride is the great sin of self-elevation. It is for so many a personal Rameumptom, a holy stand that justifies envy, greed, and vanity.â19Â Those in this state of self-elevation often become self-absorbed and calloused to othersâ needs.
The Book of Mormon teaches that the solution for anyone to get out of this condition is to willingly âhumble yourselves even to the dustâ (Alma 34:38). The âdustâ of the earth provides a good metaphor because as one willingly lowers oneself in humility (such as bowing to the earth in prayer), he or she can remember that mankind was âcreated of the dust of the earthâ and that âit belongeth to him who created youâ (Mosiah 2:25).20
Ultimately, Â when we begin to comprehend our complete dependence upon Jesus Christâwho both created us and atoned for sinsâwe will begin to see why, in the end, âevery knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before himâ (Mosiah 27:31).21Â In one of the gospelâs insightful ironies, those who refuse to humble themselves will, like Lucifer, be pulled down to the dust (Genesis 3:14). In contrast, those who willingly humble themselves to the dust and obey Godâs commandments will be raised up into eternal life (3 Nephi 15:1).22Â As the prophet Alma taught, âYea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessedâyea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humbleâ (Alma 32:15).
Further Reading
Kerry Hull, âWar Banners: A Mesoamerican Context for the Title of Liberty,â Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 24 (2015): 84â118.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, âPride and the Priesthood,â Ensign, November 2010, 55â58, online at lds.org.
Ezra Taft Benson, âBeware of Pride,â Ensign, May 1989, online at lds.org.
1.For more references to pulling down pride, see Alma 4:19; 51:21; 60:36.
2.See Exodus 34:13; Leviticus 26:30; Judges 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Samuel 22:28; 1 Kings 8:32â33; 2 Kings 10:27; 18:4; 2 Chronicles 14:3; 15:16; 31:1; 34:4; Job 14:2; 40:12; Psalm 18:27; 20:8; 30:3; 37:2; 55:23; 59:11; 107:12; Isaiah 5:15; 14:11â12, 15; 22:19; 25:11â12; 43:14; 63:6; Jeremiah 1:10; 18:7; 24:6; 42:10; 51:40; Lamentations 2:2; Ezekiel 17:24; 26:20; 28:8; 31:18; Obadiah 1:4; Zechariah 10:11.
3.See 1 Nephi 13:9; 14:2, 7; 16:25; 18:17â18; 2 Nephi 1:7, 21; 2:29; 26:15; Jacob 6:7; Enos 1:10; Mosiah 7:28; Alma 4:19; 10:18; 12:6, 37; 13:30; 30:23, 47; 42:29â30; 51:21; Helaman 1:24; 6:5, 25; 14:19; 17:10; 3 Nephi 21:15; Ether 2:11; Moroni 8:14.
4.For similar imagery related to Babylon, see Isaiah 21:9; Revelation 14:8; 18:2; Doctrine and Covenants 1:16.
5.See Book of Mormon Central, âWhy Did Riplakish Construct a Beautiful Throne? (Ether 10:6),â KnoWhy244 (December 2, 2016); John L. Sorenson, Mormonâs Codex: An Ancient American Book (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2013), 370â371, 577; Robert Sharer, âTime of Kings and Queens,â Expedition 54, no. 1 (2012): 27â28. For iconography depicting Mesoamerican rulers seated on elevated thrones, see Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, 2nd edition (New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 2008), 15, 60, 62, 77, 135, 143, 147, 149 153, 201.
6.For the comments about the rulers idly sitting on their thrones, see Alma 60:7, 11, 21â22.
7.The concept of dethroning a king is mentioned in Mosiah 29:21.
8.See Book of Mormon Central, âWhy was Coriantumr’s Record Engraved on a âLarge Stoneâ? (Omni 1:20),â KnoWhy 77 (April 13, 2016).
9.See Kerry Hull, âWar Banners: A Mesoamerican Context for the Title of Liberty,â Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 24 (2015): 84â118.
10.See Book of Mormon Central, âWhy Did Moroni Quote the Patriarch Jacob about a Piece of Josephâs Coat? (Alma 46:24),â KnoWhy 154 (July 29, 2016).
11.It is also notable that the phrase âlifted upâ is associated with pride in many Book of Mormon passages. For a few examples, see 2 Nephi 28:12; Jacob 1:16; Mosiah 11:5, 19; Alma 31:25; Helaman 3:34; 3 Nephi 6:10; 4 Nephi 1:24; Mormon 8:28.
12.See Morgan Deane, âExperiencing Battle in the Book of Mormon,â Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 23 (2017): 240. For a broader, cross-cultural treatment of this same phenomenon, see Sarah Ralph, ed., The Archaeology of Violence: Interdisciplinary Approaches, IEMA Proceedings, Volume 2 (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2012).
13.Martin and Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, 153.
14.David A. Freidel, Barbara MacLeod, and Charles K. Suhler, âEarly Classic Maya Conquest in Words and Deeds,â Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare, ed. M. Kathryn Brown and Travis W. Stanton (Oxford, UK: Alta Mira Press, 2003), 196.
15.Geoffrey G. McCafferty, âEthnic Conflict in Postclassic Cholula, Mexico,â in Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare, 233. Although this example significantly post-dates Book of Mormon times, it helps demonstrate that ritual desecration was an enduring cultural phenomenon in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
16.Martin and Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, 153.
17.Gyles Iannone, âThe Rise and Fall of an Ancient Maya Petty Royal Court,â Latin American Antiquity 16, no. 1 (2005): 39; citing David Stuart, âHistorical Inscriptions and the Maya Collapse,â in Lowland Maya Civilization in the Eighth Century A.D., ed. Jeremy A. Sabloff and John S. Henderson (Washington D.C., Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1991â1992), 346.
18.Ezra Taft Benson, âBeware of Pride,â Ensign, May 1989, online at lds.org.
19.Dieter F. Uchtdorf, âPride and the Priesthood,â Ensign, November 2010, 56, online at lds.org.
20.See Book of Mormon Central, âWhy Did Mormon Say the Children of Men are Less than the Dust of the Earth? (Helaman 12:7),â KnoWhy 183 (September 8, 2016).
21.See Book of Mormon Central, âWhy Did the People Fall Down at the Feet of Jesus? (3 Nephi 11:17),â KnoWhy 202 (October 5, 2016); Matthew L. Bowen, ââThey Came and Held Him by the Feet and Worshipped Himâ: Proskynesis before Jesus in Its Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Context,â Studies in the Bible and Antiquity 5 (2013): 63â68; Matthew L. Bowen, ââThey Came Forth and Fell Down and Partook of the Fruit of the Treeâ: Proskynesis in 3 Nephi 11:12â19 and 17:9â10 and Its Significance,â in Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2012), 107â130; Matthew L. Bowen, â’And Behold, They Had Fallen to the Earth’: An Examination of Proskynesis in the Book of Mormon,â Studia Antiqua 4, no. 1 (2005): 91â110.
22.For a similar concept, see Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28; Doctrine and Covenants 50:26.