wearing a fine sword made of "precious steel" with a hilt of "pure gold." After slaying Laban, Nephi took this sword for himself. He would later use it as a model for manufacturing similar weapons for his people's defense. Apparently Laban's sword was passed down through the centuries to future prophets, kings, and warriors, as it is mentioned many centuries later in the Book of Mormon. Book of the Law of the Lord James J. Strang, one of several contenders to succeed Joseph Smith during the 1844 succession crisis, asserted that he had been given the "Plates of Laban" in fulfillment of Lehi's prophecy. His translation of selections from them was published in 1851 as The Book of the Law of the Lord: Being a Translation from the Egyptian of the Law Given to Moses in Sinai. In its preface, Strang clearly identifies the "Plates of Laban" as the source for most of his book. Strang's Book of the Law comprises a constitution for a Mormon monarchy, wherein the Prophet-leader of the Latter Day Saint church equally rules as king over God's kingdom on earth. His 1856 expanded version also contains other revelations and teachings by Strang to enhance understanding of the work. The Book of the Law was seen by Strang as making up only a portion of the Plates of Laban, rather than the whole, showing that it was a more complete bible that included books now lost. The Book of Mormon also claims this in reference to works by Zenos and Zenock, prophets who lived in Jerusalem, but are now unknown to history. Seven witnesses testified to having seen and handled the plates Strang claimed to possess. They described the plates as being eighteen in number, each measuring approximately seven and three-eighths inches wide, by nine inches long. The plates themselves were "occasionally embellished with beautiful pictures," and all appeared to be of "beautiful antique workmanship, bearing a striking resemblance to the ancient oriental languages." The subsequent history of Strang's "Plates of Laban," and their current whereabouts, is a mystery. The Book of the Law of the Lord is not viewed as sacred scripture to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Community of Christ, the two largest factions of the Latter Day Saint movement. The Community of Christ (then the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) was formed under Joseph