Day 4: Pages 10-12

Let's talk about Sariah. She gets a bad rap in chapter 5 because we learn that as her 4 sons were traveling back and forth to Jerusalem getting the Brass Plates, she did a little complaining. (gasp! she murmured).

I remember thinking when we read this story in primary and sunday school, "oh poor Lehi, even his wife murmurs against him." However, my opinion of Sariah has definitely evolved over time. As a mother, I can't imagine just letting my husband tell my kids to travel a great distance back to a city which wants to kill them just to get a book. Even if I knew he was a prophet, I would still question whether or not this was coming from my husband or from the prophet.

Sariah doesn't seem to complain when the boys leave, it must have taken a great deal of faith in her husband to strengthen her. Then, only after what must have been a LONG time, Sariah expresses her concerns. Since a marriage is an equal partnership, she had every right to tell Lehi how she was feeling. I tend to think of it less as murmuring, and more of expressing her fears to her loving and faithful husband.

Nephi is the one recording this record and would have seen this event very differently than his father. I sometimes wish we had those first pages that Martin Harris lost, so that I could read what Lehi had to say about this same event. Perhaps he would have emphasized Sariah's willingness to always follow him, no matter the difficulty!