[Page 1]Abstract: Deuteronomy 17:14–20 represents the most succinct summation in the Bible of criteria for kingship. Remarkably, the Book of Mormon narrative depicts examples of kingship that demonstrate close fidelity to the pattern set forth in Deuteronomy 17 (e.g., Nephi, Benjamin, or Mosiah II) or the inversion of the expected pattern of kingship (e.g., king Noah). Future research on Book of Mormon kingship through the lens of Deuteronomy 17:14–20 should prove fruitful.

Likely the most succinct set of verses in the Bible that express God’s expectation for a king¹ are found in Deuteronomy 17:14–20.² These verses, I argue, are crucial criteria for understanding Book of Mormon kingship[Page 2].³

¹⁴ When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; ¹⁵ Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. ¹⁶ But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. ¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. ¹⁸ And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: ¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: ²⁰ That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

I interpret these passages as a set of God-decreed kingly dos and don’ts. I’ll begin with the don’ts:

1. Don’t acquire many horses (don’t raise a military) (v. 16).
2. Don’t return the people to Egypt (don’t return people to the house of bondage/apostasy) (v. 16).
3. Don’t acquire many wives (v. 17).⁴
4. [Page 3]Don’t seek after silver and gold (v. 17).

What should the king be doing with all his time and influence?

1. Have a copy of the scriptures (v. 18).
2. Read the scriptures every day (v. 18).
3. Teach the scriptures (vs. 19–20).
4. Do not lift yourself up above your brethren (v. 20).

Remarkably, God doesn’t want a human king to do any of the things we typically associate with leaders. Rather, God simply wants a leader who is a lover of scripture. Why? Because God himself is the king. As Jacob so beautiful records, “For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words” (2 Nephi 10:14, emphasis added).

[Page 4]There is no need to replace God on the divine throne of kingship with some fallible human king. Unfortunately, humans have masterly usurped God’s role and power as king. The Book of Mormon narrative is driven, in part, by this very pressing question, “Who is to be the king?” How that question was asked and answered contributed to significant portions of Book of Mormon narrative production.⁵

What is so striking about the seven verses quoted earlier is that expressions of Book of Mormon kingship align so well with this rubric for kingship. For those who seek to argue that Joseph Smith was the imaginative and enterprising author of the Book of Mormon, I find it difficult to believe that Joseph Smith was so versed in the Bible that he could correctly identify the only seven consecutive verses in the entire Bible where God lays out his dos and don’ts for kingship and then build a book of hundreds of thousands of words that contains kingship narratives that seem to be strong examples and counter examples of what happens when kings do or do not fulfill God’s expectations.

Here are some compelling examples of how well the Book of Mormon represents God’s expectations for kingship as set forth in Deuteronomy 17.⁶

 

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Nephi Evaluated Against Deuteronomy 17

Don’t	How did Nephi do? Exemplary king
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t acquire many horses (don’t raise a military).	2 Nephi 5:14; 2 Nephi 4:34 There is no mention of Nephi seeking after horses, though he did arm his people to defend themselves from enemies. But his trust was not in the arm of flesh but in the Lord.
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t return the people to Egypt (don’t return people to the house of bondage/apostasy).	1 Nephi 18:22 Nephi led the people into a new Promised Land, just as Moses had done.
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t acquire many wives.	1 Nephi 16:7 Nephi did not seek after additional wives.
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t seek after silver and gold.	1 Nephi 18:25 Nephi did seek after silver and gold but only with the intent to support his society, not to empower or ingratiate himself.
Do	How did Nephi do? Exemplary king
Deuteronomy 17:18 Have a copy of the scriptures.	1 Nephi 3:24 Nephi obtained the scriptures from Laban.
Deuteronomy 17:19 Read the scriptures every day.	2 Nephi 25:26 Nephi was quite motivated about the scriptures, so likely he was a regular reader.
Deuteronomy 17:19 Live and teach the scriptures.	1 Nephi 19:23–24 Nephi lived and taught the scriptures.
Deuteronomy 17:20 Do not lift yourself up above your brethren.	1 Nephi 17:55; 2 Nephi 5:19–20 Nephi did not lift himself up above his people. In fact, he rejected the title of kingship.

 

In summary, Nephi fulfills God’s expectations of kingship in an exemplary fashion.

 

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Benjamin Evaluated Against Deuteronomy 17

Don’t	How did Benjamin do? Exemplary king
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t acquire many horses (don’t raise a military).	Words of Mormon 13–14 King Benjamin protected his people from enemies and apparently had a military, but his trust was not in the arm of flesh but in the Lord.
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t return the people to Egypt (don’t return people to the house of bondage/apostasy).	Words of Mormon 15–18 King Benjamin did not lead people to apostasy.
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t acquire many wives.	King Benjamin did not seek after additional wives. [There are no scriptures indicating that King Benjamin sought additional wives.]
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t seek after silver and gold.	Mosiah 2:12, 14 King Benjamin did not seek after the wealth of the world.
Do	How did Benjamin do? Exemplary king
Deuteronomy 17:18 Have a copy of the scriptures.	Mosiah 1:2–3 King Benjamin had the scriptures.
Deuteronomy 17:19 Read the scriptures every day.	Likely. [There is no specific scripture indicating that King Benjamin read the scriptures daily. However, the thrust of this prescription in Deuteronomy is that the king should be a scriptorian. King Benjamin, according to the Book of Mormon record, appears to have thoroughly immersed his life in the scriptures.]
Deuteronomy 17:19 Live and teach the scriptures.	Mosiah 1:2–3; 2:9–11 King Benjamin lived and taught the scriptures to his sons and to his people.
Do[Page 7]	How did Benjamin do? Exemplary king
Deuteronomy 17:20 Do not lift yourself up above your brethren.	Mosiah 2:10–11 King Benjamin did not lift himself up above his people.

 

Like Nephi, Benjamin fulfills God’s expectations of kingship in an exemplary fashion.

 

King Noah Evaluated Against Deuteronomy 17

Don’t	How did Noah do? Disastrous king
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t acquire many horses (don’t raise a military).	Mosiah 11:18–19 Noah raised a military; he put his trust in the arm of flesh, not in God who is the divine warrior!7
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t return the people to Egypt (don’t return people to the house of bondage/apostasy).	Mosiah 11:2; 19:28; 21:3–5 Noah led the people into apostasy and bondage.
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t acquire many wives.	Mosiah 11:2 Noah had many wives and concubines.
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t seek after silver and gold.	Mosiah 11:3–4 Noah sought the gold and silver of the people for his own purposes.
Do	How did Noah do? Disastrous king
Deuteronomy 17:18 Have a copy of the scriptures.	Mosiah 11:27, 29 Noah was apparently ignorant of scriptures.
Deuteronomy 17:19 Read the scriptures every day.	Noah gave that role to the priests. [No scripture indicates that Noah had any awareness of scripture. Instead the priests are the primary agitators in the trial of Abinadi, misusing scripture to attempt to trap Abinadi.]

Do[Page 8]	How did Noah do? Disastrous king
Deuteronomy 17:19 Live and teach the scriptures.	No. [Noah did not live or teach the scriptures. In fact, the priests, to whom he delegated his role as scriptorian, appear to be familiar with scripture but they misuse scripture in an attempt to destroy Abinadi.]
Deuteronomy 17:20 Do not lift yourself up above your brethren.	Mosiah 11:9–12; 19:6–11 Noah lifted himself up above the people.

Noah was a spectacular failure in living as God expected kings to live. In fact, it is striking how distinctly opposite all Noah’s actions were from God’s ideal for kingship as set forth in Deuteronomy 17:14–20.

Mosiah II Evaluated Against Deuteronomy 17

Don’t	How did Mosiah II do? Exemplary king
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t acquire many horses (don’t raise a military).	Mosiah 29:14 Mosiah II protected his people from enemies and apparently had a military, but his trust was not in the arm of flesh but in the Lord.
Deuteronomy 17:16 Don’t return the people to Egypt (don’t return people to the house of bondage/apostasy).	Mosiah 29:33–37 Mosiah II did not lead people to apostasy.
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t acquire many wives.	Mosiah II did not seek after additional wives. [There are no scriptures indicating that Mosiah II had or sought after additional wives.]
Deuteronomy 17:17 Don’t seek after silver and gold.	Mosiah 27:2–5 Mosiah II did not seek after the wealth of the world.

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Do	How did Mosiah II do? Exemplary king
Deuteronomy 17:18 Have a copy of the scriptures.	Mosiah 28:11, 17 Mosiah II had the scriptures. It was the writings/scriptures that likely helped convince him to get rid of kingship.
Deuteronomy 17:19 Read the scriptures every day.	Mosiah 28:10–13 Likely.
Deuteronomy 17:19 Live and teach the scriptures.	Mosiah 25:4–7, 14; 28:14, 17–18 Mosiah II lived and taught the scriptures to his sons and to his people.
Deuteronomy 17:20 Do not lift yourself up above your brethren.	Mosiah 29: 32, 40 Mosiah II did not lift himself up above his people.

 

Like Nephi and Benjamin, Mosiah II fulfills God’s expectations of kingship in an exemplary fashion.

I believe that the Book of Mosiah was constructed as a sandwich narrative: good king [Benjamin], then bad king [Noah], then good king [Mosiah II]. This narrative structure highlights why Mosiah II recognized the problem of kingship. Kingship was a major factor in Nephite conflict, suffering, and apostasy. Mosiah II therefore was motivated to disband kingship. Ironically much of the historical backdrop for the Book of Alma and the Book of Helaman revolves around people fighting for a return to kingship while others fight to avoid kingship.

Conclusion

If Joseph Smith was the putative author of the Book of Mormon, it is incredibly remarkable that he had prescience enough to construct kingship narratives that so unfailingly adhered to or perfectly disagreed with what God expected of a king as expressed in Deuteronomy 17:14–20. Future studies could take each leader from the Book of Mormon and hold them up to the standard of Deuteronomy 17:14–20. The comparisons and contrasts among Book of Mormon leaders as to how well they fulfilled God’s expectations of leaders will likely prove enlightening.⁸

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