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Burying Weapons of War

This genuinely interesting motif of the converted Lamanites burying their weapons of war, Alma ch. 24 and ch. 25, sort of stands out. This is probably a stretch, but in Adam Clarke’s vol. 3 of Thomas Harmer’s Observations on Various Passages of Scripture, 1816, Observ.16, pp.53–55, referencing Ezek. 32:26–27 and 1 Macc. 13:20–30, cites the work of 16th century Dutch scholar and theologian Hugo Grotius, who explains the practice of burying their arms, particularly their swords, with warriors; and the apocryphal historian (in 1 Macc.) describes carvings, on pillars, set over the graves of such. Harmer goes on to say that Ezekial explains that not all nations did this, but that burying warriors with their weapons of war was peculiar to Meschech and Tubal (combined as Mingrelia) and the adjoining country, but not other nations (Egypt, Ashur, Elam, Edom, etc.) that were enemies of ancient Isreal. The obvious difference is the actual ancient practice of “burying weapons of war” was for the living to bury the weapons of war with their slain comrades, not (as the Anti-Nephi-Lehies) the living burying their own weapons of war as a form of pacifism and symbolism, a form of self-sacrifice. Hopefully more research can be done on this.

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