• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FAIR

Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

  • Find Answers
  • Blog
  • Media & Apps
  • Conference
  • Bookstore
  • Archive
  • About
  • Get Involved
  • Search

Faith and Reason 22: Laban and his “Fifty”

October 3, 2014 by FAIR Staff

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Evidence-26A.mp3

Podcast: Download (4.4MB)

Subscribe: RSS

 

From the book: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith

by Michael R. Ash

When Nephi and his brothers asked Laban for the brass plates in trade for their silver and gold, Laban tried to kill them and he took away their possessions. After a narrow escape, Laman and Lemuel complained about the impossibility of their task because of Laban and his “fifty”:

“And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?” (1 Nephi 3:31)

To modern readers this sounds like a small army indeed, but to those of the ancient Near East, the size of Laban’s garrison fits neatly into Old World customs. According to Dr. Hugh Nibley, a permanent garrison in a big city of Lehi’s day consisted of thirty to eighty men. In a recently discovered letter of Nebuchadnezzar (a contemporary of Lehi,) the king speaks of a garrison of “fifty”. In Babylonia, a platoon in the army consisted of fifty men. This permanent unit was always called a “fifty” just as Nephi spoke of “Laban with his fifty”.

Michael R. Ash is the author of: Of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting The Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the owner and operator of MormonFortress.com and is on the management team for FairMormon. He has been published in Sunstone, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, the Maxwell Institute’s FARMS Review, and is the author of Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt.  He and his wife live in Ogden, Utah, and have three daughters.

Julianne Dehlin Hatton  is a broadcast journalist living in Louisville, Kentucky. She has worked as a News Director at an NPR affiliate, Radio and Television Host, and Airborne Traffic Reporter. She graduated with an MSSc from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2008. Julianne and her husband Thomas are the parents of four children.

Music for Faith and Reason is provided by Arthur Hatton.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address:

Subscribe to Podcast

Podcast icon
Subscribe to podcast in iTunes
Subscribe to podcast elsewhere
Listen with FAIR app
Android app on Google Play

Pages

  • Blog Guidelines

FAIR Latest

  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Ephesians
  • Asking Big Questions: How Can I Make the Repentance Process Less Intimidating?
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Galatians
  • Join us this weekend for a FREE virtual Book of Mormon conference with keynote speaker Richard Bushman
  • Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – 2 Corinthians 8–13

Blog Categories

Recent Comments

  • Greg Ricks on Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – Ephesians
  • Clair on Come, Follow Me with FAIR: Faithful Answers to New Testament Questions – 2 Corinthians 8–13
  • Dennis Horne on Asking Big Questions: How Can I Develop a Stronger Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ?
  • Sarah Allen on Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 23: The Early Church – Blacks and the Church [D]
  • No on Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 23: The Early Church – Blacks and the Church [D]

Archives

Footer

FairMormon Logo

FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Our Friends

  • BYU Religious Studies Center
  • BYU Studies
  • Book of Mormon Central
  • TheFamilyProclamation.org
  • Interpreter Foundation
  • Wilford Woodruff Papers Project

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • iTunes
  • YouTube

Donate to FAIR

We are a volunteer organization. We invite you to give back.

Donate Now

Donate to us by shopping at Amazon at no extra cost to you. Learn how →

Site Footer

Copyright © 1997-2023 by The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of FAIR, its officers, directors or supporters.

No portion of this site may be reproduced without the express written consent of The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc.

Any opinions expressed, implied, or included in or with the goods and services offered by FAIR are solely those of FAIR and not those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) Logo

FAIR is controlled and operated by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR)