View source for Laban (Book of Mormon)

{{Short description|Person in the Book of Mormon}}
{{about|a person in the ''Book of Mormon''||Laban (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Laman and Lemuel}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion           = 
| image              = Laban, in Nephi and Laban, by HH Haag.png
| alt                = A man lies on the ground, his eyes shut. He wears clothing with very wide sleeves. A scabbard for a sword is at his belt. One arm rests under his head, as if his pillow. He is fully plunged in the shadow of a wall/building to the left in the image. This man is Laban. This was cropped from the 1894 painting Nephi and Laban by Herman Hugo Haag, the latter being a depiction of the scene from 1 Nephi 4, in the Book of Mormon.
| caption            = Laban unconscious ({{sourcetext|source=Book_of_Mormon_(1981)|book=1 Nephi|chapter=4|verse=7}}), as depicted in H.&nbsp;H. Haag's 1894 ''Nephi and Laban''
| era                = Reign of Zedekiah
| death_place        = Jerusalem
| known_for          = Possessing the brass plates
| death_cause        = [[Killing of Laban|Killed by Nephi]]
}}

'''Laban''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|eɪ|b|ə|n}})<ref>[http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/scriptures/bofm/pronunciation?lang=eng churchofjesuschrist.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide"] (retrieved 2012-02-25), [[Wikipedia:IPA for English|IPA]]-ified from «lā´bun»</ref> is a figure in the [[First Book of Nephi]], near the start of the [[Book of Mormon]], a scripture of the [[Latter Day Saint]] movement. Although he only makes a brief appearance in the Book of Mormon, his [[Book of the Law of the Lord|brass plates]] play an important role when they are taken by [[Laman and Lemuel|Laman]] and [[Nephi, son of Lehi|Nephi]] (often referred to as the "sons of Lehi") and are used by the [[Nephite]]s.

==Narrative==
{{Figures in the Book of Mormon}}
Laban appears in First Nephi as a wealthy and politically influential military commander who may be a distant kinsman of Lehi. Laban owns brass plates which are held in high esteem. Lehi sends his sons Laman and Nephi to retrieve these plates, but Laban rebuffs them. He then attempts to kill the brothers two times, and the second time he steals the Lehi family fortune. Later, Nephi sneaks into Jerusalem and discovers Laban lying drunk in the road. Directed by the Spirit of the Lord, Nephi decapitates Laban. He then puts on Laban's clothing and armor and retrieves the plates.{{sfn|Thomas|2016|pp=32–33}}

==Interpretations==
===Brass Plates===
Brant Gardner identified five ways that the brass plates of Laban were "extremely important",{{sfn|Gardner|2007|pp=100–101}} both in the immediate context of their retrieval by the [[Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet)|sons of Lehi]] and in later [[Nephite]], [[Lamanite]], and [[Mulekite]] society. For Gardner, the plates function as a symbol of political authority, as a "social anchor" for the Nephites, a doctrinal source text, a prototype for Nephite recordkeeping, and as a "sacred object."{{sfn|Gardner|2007|pp=100–101}} The last point, indicating that the brass plates function as royal insignia, is also discussed in depth by [[Stephen D. Ricks]], a [[Latter-day Saint]] [[Hebraist]] and [[apologist]]. Ricks associated the brass plates with the "protocol" that was used as a prop in [[Josiah]]'s [[coronation]], citing [[Rashi]]'s [[exegesis|interpretation]] of the Hebrew word "edût" as the [[Torah]] in [[2 Kings 11:12]].<ref name=Ricks>{{cite book |last1=Ricks |first1=Stephen D. |editor1-last=Welch |editor1-first=John W. |editor2-last=Ricks |editor2-first=Stephen D. |title=King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom" |date=1998 |publisher=Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies |location=Provo, Utah |pages=247–248 |chapter=Kingship, Coronation, and Covenant in Mosiah 1--6}}</ref>

[[James Strang]], like Joseph Smith, claimed to translate scripture from [[Latter Day Saint movement and engraved metal plates|metal plates]]. The resulting scripture, the [[Book of the Law of the Lord]], claims to contain at least part of Laban's plates.<ref>Beshears, Kyle R. (2021, September 25). "Wingfield Scott Watson and His Struggle to Preserve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Strangite) after the Death of Its Founder" (dissertation). Boyce Digital Repository. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://hdl.handle.net/10392/6603.</ref>

===Death===
{{main|Killing of Laban}}
[[Nephi, son of Lehi|Nephi's]] [[killing of Laban]] has been argued over by believers and others engaging with the narrative on its own terms. Some say that the killing was legally justified as [[Self-defense|self defense]], that it was a political act, that it was specifically one of "[[sovereignty]],"<ref name=Swift>{{cite journal |last1=Swift |first1=Charles |title="The Lord slayeth the wicked": Coming to Terms with Nephi Killing Laban |journal=Journal of Book of Mormon Studies |date=2019 |volume=86 |issue=1 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol28/iss1/6/}}</ref> and that it functioned similarly to the biblical [[Akedah]] as a test of Nephi's faith. Commentators have suggested that the story was a way for [[Joseph Smith]] to deal with repressed childhood trauma<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brigham |first1=Janet |date=March 29, 2018 |title=Being Joseph Smith |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/being-joseph-smith-the-sword-of-laban-joseph-smith-jr-and-the-dissociated-mind/ |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]] |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=187–190}}</ref> and symbolically sever of the Book of Mormon narrative from the established [[biblical canon]] as the [[Voice of God|Spirit of the Lord]] ordered Laban's murder.<ref name=Swift/> [[Steven L. Peck]], a [[Latter-day Saint]] novelist wrote a [[Deleuze]]an treatment of the sword of Laban as emblematic of [[climate change]] and of [[oppression|power structures]], referring to it as symptomatic of the "Jerusalem-machine."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Peck |first1=Steven L |title=THE SWORD OF LABAN, DELEUZE, AND CLIMATE CHANGE: SLOUCHING TOWARD APOCALYPSE IN THE BOOK OF MORMON |journal=Ships of Hagoth |date=2022 |url=https://shipsofhagoth.com/author/steven-l-peck/}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
In ''[[The Book of Mormon Movie]]'', adapted from [[First Nephi|First]] and [[Second Nephi]], Laban was portrayed by the actor Michael Flynn.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131021185532/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700003321/Book-of-Mormon-Movie-Volume-1-The-Journey-The.html The Book of Mormon Movie], ''Deseret News''.</ref> The film was widely panned by [[Latter-day Saint]] and [[secular]] critics. The ''[[Austin Chronicle]]'' wrote of "Michael Flynn turning in a ripping good [[Edward G. Robinson]] impersonation as the villainous Laban."<ref>[http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/2004-03-05/199711/ The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey] in the ''Austin Chronicle''</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Latter-day Saints}}
* [[Book of Mormon chronology]]
* [[List of plates (Latter Day Saint movement)]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== Works cited ==
*{{Cite Q|Q123118187|ref={{sfnref|Gardner|2007}}}}
*{{Cite Q|Q123196681|ref={{sfnref|Thomas|2016}}}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book
 |last      = Gorton
 |first     = H. Clay
 |year      = 1994
 |title     = The Legacy of the Brass Plates of Laban: A Comparison of Biblical & Book of Mormon Isaiah Texts
 |publisher = Cedar Fort
 |isbn      = 0882905112
}}
* [[John W. Welch]], [http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1378&index=7 "Legal Perspectives on the Slaying of Laban"] ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 1/1 (1992): 119–41.
*Brett L. Holbrook, [http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1382&index=4  "The Sword of Laban as a Symbol of Divine Authority and Kingship,"] ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 2/1 (1993)
*Val Larsen, [http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1404&index=5 "Killing Laban: The Birth of Sovereignty in the Nephite Constitutional Order"] ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 16/1 (2007)
*{{cite book |url= https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/book-mormon-second-nephi-doctrinal-structure/11-influence-brass-plates-teachings-nephi |contribution= The Influence of the Brass Plates on the Teachings of Nephi |author-link= Robert L. Millet |last= Millet |first= Robert L. |pages= 207–25 |title= Second Nephi, The Doctrinal Structure |editor1-last= Nyman |editor1-first= Monte S. |editor1-link= Monte S. Nyman |editor2-first= Charles D. Jr. |editor2-last= Tate |place= Provo, Utah |publisher= [[Religious Studies Center]], [[Brigham Young University]] |year= 1989 |isbn= 0-8849-4699-1 }}

==External links==
* [http://farms.byu.edu/publications/bookofmormonview.php?subcat=136&cat=4 LDS research articles on the Sword of Laban]
* [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/scriptures/inp/pltsbrss?lang=eng References to Laban] in the index to the [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|LDS]] edition of The Book of Mormon
* [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/scriptures/inp/pltsbrss?lang=eng References to brass plates] in the index to the LDS edition of The Book of Mormon
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071013071439/http://mormonbeliefs.com/book_of_the_law.htm ''Book of the Law of the Lord, Being a Translation from the Egyptian of the Law Given to Moses in Sinai'']. The Royal Press, St. James, 1856.

[[Category:Book of Mormon people]]
[[Category:Deaths by decapitation]]