Terry Hutchinson
Kevin Christensen
Don Bradley
You can listen to or download the December 15 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The hosts were Terry Hutchinson, Kevin Christensen and Don Bradley. In this episode, author Don Bradley discusses his book The Lost 116 Pages and related topics. Also featured was a roundtable on the upcoming Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson #2 on 1 Nephi 1-7. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Call in to 801-254-1640 with your questions and comments during the live show.
Original air date: December 15, 2019. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.
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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:49:55 — 12.6MB) |
The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.
I have a quibble with something said on the show. Specifically to the effect that Nephi’s killing of Laban was not given justification in the Law of Moses in the text, but was only a spiritual prompting.
I think there is justification in the Law for Laban’s execution: Deuteronomy 19:16-19 specifies the process and penalty for bearing false witness. The process was that both men were to stand before the Lord (represented by the persons of priests and judges) to be subjected to inquisition. If the judges (representing the Lord; v17) determined that one had borne false witness, he was to be punished by what he’d intended to inflict on his victim.
Laban’s only recorded statement and his subsequent actions justify his slaying under this provision of the Law. Laban makes a false statement accusing Laman of robbery, for which he threatens to kill him (1 Nephi 3:13). Laban then actually does rob the brothers and attempts to murder them (1 Nephi 3:25-26). Nephi’s encounter with the unconscious Laban was before the Lord (“The Spirit said unto me…”). Therefore all the elements of the law’s application were present in Nephi’s situation. Laban’s punishment was what he’d intended for his victim (killing), which is the punishment specified under the law.