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SUMMARY OF ''BOOK OF MORMON'' NARRATIVE ''Book of Ether'' According to the ''Book of Mormon'', the Jaredites are the descendants of Jared , his brother and their immediate family and friends. ( Joseph Smith Jr. later identified the brother of Jared as Mahonri Moriancumer .) At the time of the Tower of Babel, when the tongues of all nations were confounded, the Lord acceded to the desires of Jared and his brother so that their language, as well as that of their families and friends, was not confounded, and they were granted a land of promise. According to the narrative, the people were guided by God through the wilderness, and were eventually directed to cross the sea in "barges." Ether is the last in the royal line that began with one of the sons of Jared. From the time of the first king to the destruction of the Jaredites, there were only occasional times of peace and prosperity. These times of peace were interrupted by intrigue to the throne, civil war, and the accession of wicked kings. Thus the history of the Jaredites proved the fear of Jared and his brother that a monarchy would lead to captivity. {Link without Title} The Jaredites finally destroyed themselves about the time is fulfilled, and the last Jaredite king, Coriantumr , lives both to see the total destruction of his people and the arrival of another people to inherit the land. {Link without Title} Other references Besides the ''Book of Ether'' history of the Jaredites, elsewhere in the ''Book of Mormon'' relates that Coriantumr was found by the Mulekites . The Nephite s later discovered the Mulekites and taught them the Nephite language. The Mulekites related that Coriantumr had died nine months after he had come to live with them. The Nephite prophet was able to translate some records (a stone tablet and twenty-four metal plates) that the Mulekites had found. The record on the metal plates are what Moroni later included in the ''Book of Mormon'' as the ''Book of Ether''. PROPOSED JAREDITE ORIGINS Some lay-members of the LDS church have suggested possible origins of the Jaredite people. These are merely interesting speculations on connections with the biblical record, and these ideas have not been commented on by leaders of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints . Descendants of Shem Some have suggested that the Jaredites may have been descendants of Shem. The reasoning is as follows. Moroni begins his abridgement of the book of Ether by saying that he is omitting those parts of Ether's record that are had in the Bible; He says he will begin where the biblical record leaves off. He then begins with a genealogy, going from Ether back to Jared. This may imply that his point of departure from the biblical record is also a genealogy. In the Bible, Genesis 10 lists the descendants of Shem (Shem - Arphaxad - Salah - Eber). Shem's great-grandson Eber (or, Heber) is said to have two sons, Peleg and Joktan (or, Yoktan), noting that in their day, the earth was divided. The record briefly lists Joktan's children but then his line dead-ends. The record returns to Peleg and follows his line after telling the tower of Babel story. Some interpret "the earth was divided" to mean that the covenant line was divided into two groups, one of which went to America. They point out that one of Joktan's sons is named "Jerah," which is similar to Jared. They propose that Moroni's genealogy of Ether begins where Genesis 10 leaves off. Some have further hypothesized that the word Yucatan is derived from Joktan. (See Smith and Sjodahl's commentary, or a summary .) Descendants of Ham Other individual Mormons have suggested that the Jaredites may have been descendants of Ham, Noah's other son, who according to the Pearl Of Great Price married Egyptus , a Canaanite woman. A number of studies by those within the Latter Day Saint Movement have suggested the following evidence:
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