Lehi in the Desert, The World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites

The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley #5

by Hugh Nibley, John W. Welch (Editor), Darrell L. Matthews (Editor)

Lehi in the Desert- 1988

Genres: Religion, Lds, History, Nonfiction, Church, Mormonism, Historical

464 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Hugh Winder Nibley was one of Mormonism's most celebrated scholars. Nibley is notable for his extensive research and publication on ancient languages and culture, his vigorous defense of doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for frankly discussing what he saw as the shortcomings of the LDS people and culture.

A prolific author and professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, he was fluent in over ten languages, including Classical Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, Coptic, Arabic, German, French, English, and Spanish languages. He also studied Dutch and Russian during World War II.

In addition to his efforts as a scholar, Nibley was well known for writings and lectures on LDS scripture and doctrinal topics, many of which were published in LDS Church magazines. His book “An Approach to the Book of Mormon” was used as a lesson manual for the LDS Church in 1957.

Reviews

[Sirpa Grierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a teen my father began (with Hugh Nibley’s permission) to translate Nibley’s works into Finnish on his manual typewriter. He began on this labor of love with Lehi in the Desert until his death in 1992. He had by then completed a majority of the volumes and given them to BYU F.A.RM.S. Sadly, Finnish is not a priority language and nothing has been published and F.A.RM.S. is now dissolved.

It took several decades for me to begin seriously reading Nibley’s books and after finishing some of the collected works, I am hooked and hope to read the majority of them. One of my favorites this far has been Temple and Cosmos.

This is Volume 5 of his series. If you want to read this 3 book volume, Lehi in the Desert is my recommendation as it is very accessible and contains so many details that enrich one’s understanding of the Jewish and Egyptian cultures at the time of Lehi (600 BCE). I have read this one several times and continue to return to it with questions. The relationship between Egypt and Jerusalem is discussed as are naming conventions, habits of the “desert dwellers”, the significance of the honeybee, and much, much more.

The second and third books are about the Jaredite civilization. Nibley presents unusual, yet convincing evidence as to the origins of this mysterious group that is fascinating. He hypothesizes that despite a lack of archeological artifacts, he can present his points from a bigger picture of how they fit into a pattern of many civilizations that have acted in identical ways, beginning with large scale migrations and ending with an almost overnight destruction of a people. If you are interested in a thread of thought that extends from the Central Asian steppes to warrior kings, chivalry, intrigues, assassins, final battles, and more, the World of the Jaredites may be fascinating.

The final book, And There were Jaredites was not as compelling for me, but basically expanded and then summarized points from the second book within a creative conversation between imaginary scholars.

Nibley is somewhat of a legend. What I love about Hugh Nibley is his wide-ranging mind. In every book the list of sources that he has consulted (or should I say, digested), to come up with his conclusions is staggering. And best of all, he adds footnotes that are always worth reading. For me, he is a reader’s delight.

[Marjean]

This book was written the year I was born! I really appreciated learning many cultural and physical evidences of the Book of Mormon. I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon without them but they were interesting and I feel more educated about the Book of Mormon.

[Ryan Hatch · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10
This is essentially three different books combined into one. The first book, 'Lehi in the Desert,' is absolutely fascinating. It basically is a look at Lehi's family traveling in the desert and analyzes it to known customs and landmarks of the time period. It's amazing how much I didn't pay attention to reading 'The Book of Mormon.' 'The World of the Jaredites' is a similar study of the Jaredite people, and, while not quite as good as the first book, it still is super fascinating. The last book, "There Were Jaredites,' has a fairly shaky premise and is difficult to follow at times. Overall, Nibley gets an A+ for his scriptural knowledge and a B- for writing style, which can be a bit dry at times.

[Keeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is amazing! He very precisely and succinctly proves that Joseph Smith could not have ever written the Book of Mormon without divine intervention. It is a wonderful dive into the history and stories of these people, the band of Lehi, and the Jaredites. He gives such a complete and in depth picture of their lives, their customs and their language. I am swimming in tidbits of facts that he has provided. I loved this book! I will read it again and again. There is so much more to be had from the Book of Mormon than just what is on the surface, and Hugh Nibley gives us a nice chunk of knowledge to guide our way into the lives of these people.

[Christopher Angulo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lehi in the Desert only (they dont have that edition on here). It was a great one to dive into again. Brings back many feelings and thoughts from 10 years ago. A great starter for those who want to dive deeper into the BofM amd its relation to the Bible (old world).

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating stuff, the author is amazing in his knowledge and research.

Makes me feel very intelligent when Bro. Nibley makes comments of things that I've thought of on my own.

This is three books combined into one. The first two books were amazing. I did not finish the third book, only because it was written in a format that I really couldn't stand to read. (The format is 3 professors discussing the subject of whether or not certain books [like Homer] are set in real places; then I am guessing the premise will be that the Jaredite people were like those books.)

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Book of Mormon.
Reading this commentary on the cultural and historical validity of events and people written about in Nephi and Ether has only strengthened my feelings for the book. For example, Lehi named his children appropriate names considering his occupation and travels. Nephi’s bow of steel is not an anomaly. The Jaredites were most likely not obliterated at the last battle (explanations abound). And glass was probably a common item in their day.
I agree with the author when he says that the writings found in the Book of Mormon “ring the bell much too often to represent the markmanship of a man shooting at random in the dark.” Meaning, there is no way Joseph Smith could have guessed about so many things and gotten them right.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nibley somehow manages to create persuasive arguments even while using evidence and information completely foreign to me. I often caught myself agreeing with him until I realized I had no idea what he was talking about. Ancient Asiatic languages and practices, the "instinct of hiding" developed by those cultures on the steppes, and Jaredite proper nouns?? While this book plainly revealed gaping holes in my education, I'm still not sure if it's ignorance or instinct telling me that Nibley is stretching a bit to reach some of his conclusions. Regardless, his frank, cutting style and clarity of thought are compelling.

[Fabrizio Poli · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always Hugh Nibley is a great researcher and reveals lots of interesting facts about Lehi's family and the Jaredites. There is no way could Joseph Smith, or any scholar in the 1800s, have written The Book Mormon. This book by High Nibley just pours more evidence that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I found the bits about the Jresited very interesting, where the world was divided between the believers and the non-belibvers., similar to today's world.
This is a great addition to one's scripture study and a good tool for preparing lessons around Lehi's family and the story of the Jaredites. Highly recommended!

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting and informative book. Like Since Cumorah, Hugh Nibley has shed his intellectual light on the history of the Book of Mormon and years and years before that time. I learned so much and now am reading the Book of Mormon with different eyes.

[Suzanne Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a 10, but my limited mind couldn't quite wrap around some of it. Fascinating information to broaden my perspective on the topic of Lehi traveling thru the wilderness, backed by history and the culture of the area and time.

[Spencer Willardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The style of this: conversational and semi-fictional was an interesting shift. The subject matter was fascinating. I have a lot more appreciation for the Book of Mormon and especially the Book of Ether now. This was an excellent read.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating.

[Larry Sproule]

Want to read page 111

[Erneilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most accessible to the average reader of Nibly's works. Great stuff!

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative would be an understatement.

[Patrick Trent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting look at the Book of Mormon with an eye toward culture and archeology.

[Michelle Llewellyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nonfiction book divided into three books or "parts" identifying the similarities between The Book of Mormon and ancient civilizations of the middle east.

Lehi in the Desert and The World of the Jaredites are fascinating, eye opening, essays that every serious reader of the Book of Mormon needs to read. Both are excellent in their arguments that if Lehi and Nephi were real men who actually lived, those first eighteen chapters in The Book of Mormon must agree with what historians and archeologists have learned since 1830 about middle eastern culture. The similarities are astonishing.

Did you know that nomadic life was quite common in 600BC? Or that Jerusalem's connections to Egypt ran deeper than we realized?

Here's a great trivia question to throw out at your next party: What is the most common name in the Book of Mormon? Answer: Ammon, whose root name, along with many other B of M names, originated in Egypt which can be traced even farther back to Mesopotamia. Jaredites and Nephites influenced each other in more ways than we realized.

All that and much, much more can be found in this book.

Equally fascinating is Nibley's comparisons of Jaredite culture to ancient Asiatic warfare with despotic kings who enslaved their rivals. Why did Ether go to so much trouble to include the history of so many kings who spent their entire lives in captivity? Because Book of Mormon people brought their middle eastern culture, including the art of warfare, with them and nobody can wage bloodier, more violent battles than those Jaredites!

You'll never read the Book of Ether or 1 Nephi the same way again.

You can skip There Were Jaredites as it reads more like a work of fiction. The reader feels like a fly on the wall as a group of scholars explain every thought that comes into their heads, walking over to a bookcase to pull out a certain volume, sharing every "Ah-ha!" moment with each other regarding the need to find proof that ancient people really did exist. It's silly, overly explicit and the format just doesn't fit with the two previous books.

Luckily, the first two books make up for the last one. Read this and astound everyone in your next Sunday school class with your wisdom and scripture knowledge.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Nibley can prove something into the ground when he wants to. Like my attorney cousin says, "It's like swatting a mosquito with a sledge hammer." If I had read this material before I read the Book of Mormon, it would have taken the faith right out of it. The book is in 3 sections. The first section about the Lehites was very interesting regarding the desert people surrounding Jerusalem and how Lehi and family, as traders, were very familiar with the desert life. He was able to trace the route of Lehi from outside Jerusalem to Bountiful, which route has subsequently been proven by the discovery of Nahom, the burial ground, right where Lehi described it among other interesting parallels of Lehi's journey with desert and trader life, none of which a man with a 3rd Grade education could have known or would have had any information available to him in regards to these things in the 1820s. The second and third sections were about the Jaredites. Two major themes which prove they exited via research into practices of cultures in the middle east and Asia around the time of the Tower of Babel when the Lord confounded the languages. The Jaredites continue the same type of cultural behaviors as their counterparts, none of which a man with a 3rd grade education could have known or guessed at in the 1820s. I found the Lehi section more engaging and the Jaredite 2 sections to be more of the mosquito/sledge-hammer scenario. Amazing research and correlations.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only book on historical evidence for the Book of Mormon that I've read, so I can't really compare it to any others, but it was an easy read, and contains a surprising amount of evidence given the short length of the book. One thing I got out of this book was additional perspective and understanding of Lehi, the Jaredite, and the tower of Babel stories by helping me understand the background that they came from. In providing this context Nibley amasses an overwhelming body of evidence that the Book of Mormon is authentic by citing archeological evidence that was unknown in Joseph's time. He also justifies many oddities of the stories with historical evidence and brought some lingering doubts I had about those passages to happy resolutions. His diatribe against the common assumption that the Jaredites were completely annihilated, together with his evidence that the Jaredites came from central Asia, helped resolve the doubt I had as to why genetic evidence links Native Americans to the Asian continent, even though he doesn't directly address this point in his book.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great companion to my study of 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon! I read only the first part- Lehi in the Desert. I appreciated Nibley's in depth study into Arab, Egyptian and Hebrew name origins and found it fascinating that of his six sons we know, each pair of sons was given a name appropriate to the locale where Lehi was at the time. Nibley presents the case that Lehi was essentially an Arab sheikh- a wealthy traveling salesman who had spiritual experiences and chose to follow the Lord. He had to choose between the predominant Egyptian influences of the day and the messages he received in vision. He also left the wealth of his own home and status and against some of his own family members to leave Jerusalem. Nibley explains some the customs of the day- what it means to "dwell in a tent", the office that Laban held and why he had the plates, the significance of water and valleys and why he named his first two sons after them and so much more.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a whole year to read this book. I started in Jan of 2008 with Lehi in the Desert. I loved this section. It is hard to read, very deep, thought provoking. But I was prepared, and found that I loved the way the author, Nibley, wrote. I enjoyed reading and gained a whole new perspective about Lehi and his family. The next two sections, The World of the Jaredites and There Were Jaredites were very hard to read. I began The World... in about July. I kept reading but found my attention turned to other things. I began skimming a lot, then finally after months, gave up and went to the next section. This took awhile to read as well. Although easier than the second section, it was still difficult. One day I may be wise enough to read Hugh Nibley and actually understand it.

I will probably try again someday. I would re-read Lehi in the Desert. It was facinating.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all Hugh Nibley's books, this is the one I think of most often. He presents amazing facts and little-known bits of history surrounding the time of Lehi's travels through the desert to the land Bountiful, and the world situation at the time of the Jaredites. Amazing. For example-- did you notice that Nephi says, each time they stop to camp, "we called the place..." But when Ishmael dies, they bury him "in the place which was called Nahom." Suggesting it was already named by local people. And in fact, there is a place called Nahom in the southern Arabian peninsula, where there are many ancient tombs. The facts about weather patterns at the time of the Jaredites was also fascinating. Apparently they were not the only ones experiencing "mighty winds."

Like all of Hugh Nibley's works, I highly recommend this book. =)

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going to sound cliche', but I'll say it anyway: I can't believe I never picked this book up before. Published in 1957 (?), it is scholarship that is yet unanswered. Now I've read it, I think back to all the anti-Book of Mormon arguments and I wonder why in the world people take those criticisms seriously. Even though this book is over 50 years old, it is still the best empirical evidence for the Book of Mormon.

For the faithful, this book is a great thing to read in companion with the Book of Mormon. It really brings to life both the world of Lehi and the world of Jaredites in surprising ways. I guarantee it will make you read the Book of Mormon a little more carefully the next time through.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished this book! I think I've been reading this for over a year. It's not an overly long book, but it is very deep and not to be read when one is drowsy, which I often am. I'm glad I stuck with it though because the last section on the Jaredites was definitely the most fascinating. Hugh Nibley definitely did his research; the footnotes are staggering! I genuinely don't think I will view The Book of Mormon the same way, and I mean that in the best sense.

This was my first reading of anything by Hugh Nibley and as soon as I closed the book I felt the desire to read more. Brilliant.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this Nibley volume is best approached with credulous playfulness. He has a scathing wit matched by many many insightful hypotheses based on the itty-bitty details found in the Book of Mormon. That Nibley can write for pages on end about these tiny details is a testament to his intellect and knowledge. I don't necessarily agree with all of his conclusions, but this book is a foundation of intelligent criticism and research of the BoM. My favorite of the two was World of the Jaredites, mostly because it advocates an angle of Jaredite origins I had never anticipated.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow. this book was fascinating. I don't think that I will ever look at the book of mormon the same. Hugh Nibley paints a picture of the Jaredites I never considered. I now look at the war chapters of alma in a whole new light and marvel how I didn't see the influence of Jaredite civilation on the later Nephites and lamanites before or the cultural references of nephi either.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because it is an intense read--lots of large vocabulary and reads like a textbook. But if you can get into the flow of the book, it is well worth it.

[Bonnie Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished re-reading this online at maxwellinstitute.com and loved it again. Nibley blazed such a wonderful path that you see his imprint on later scholars of LDS history and especially old world origins. I can almost feel him talking fast fast fast as I read, and I love his smart-mouthed humor. I also really like these collections of his writings. Sometimes a huge tome is too much brow-beating on a subject. I find an article is often sufficient, and this structure makes salient points and then leaves them. I like that kind of economy. Few people write as economically as Nibley.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the more readable Nibley's I've tackled. The last section wasn't my favorite style, but the first two I really enjoyed. I was fascinated by the historical parallels drawn between Lehi and other Arab nomads as well as between the Jaredites and what we know if the civilization they came from. It's not going to convince anyone that the Book of Mormon is true through its evidence, nor is it meant to, but it did strengthen my testimony in many areas. Mostly, it was just very interesting to me.

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting yet boring read. It was interesting in that I learned a lot of new and fascinating information. Boring in the fact that it read like a textbook. I was interested, and enjoyed the first part of the book (Lehi in the Desert) and was less interested in the two sections on the Jaradites. That could be because we were reading in 1st Nephi while I was reading this book, but I honestly think the Jaradite portions of the book were very dry. I'm a really big Nibley fan and love his research and dedication.