So much has been written about the sword of Laban that it sometimes seems that there is nothing more to be said.1 But no one appears to have drawn a parallel between the description of the sword of Laban and a similar sword description in one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hence this brief note.
The fact that both texts mention the hilt and the sheath or scabbard of the sword is relatively insignificant. More important is the composition of the hilt and the blade. Laban’s sword blade is made of “the most precious steel,” while the future swords of the Israelite army will have blades “of purified iron . . . whitened like a mirror.” Nephi describes the hilt as being made “of pure gold.” The future Israelite swords will have a hilt “of select horn . . . with a pattern in many colours: gold, silver and precious stones,” though designs in “pure gold” are also mentioned. Both the Nephite and the Qumran descriptions refer to the “workmanship” or “craftwork” of the swords, saying it was “exceedingly fine” or “of a skilful craftsman.” The War Scroll is particularly detailed when it describes the sword’s ornamentation and size.
I am not suggesting a direct connection between the account in 1 Nephi and the one in the War Scroll. But it may be that the idealized Israelite sword described in the latter reflects the concept of precious swords carried by earlier Israelite leaders such as Laban.
Research by John A. Tvedtnes, originally published in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 6/1 (1997): 73–75.
1. In the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies alone, the following articles have discussed the subject: Todd R. Kerr, “Ancient Aspects of Nephite Kingship in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 1/1 (1992): 85–118; Brett L. Holbrook, “The Sword of Laban as a Symbol of Divine Authority and Kingship,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2/1 (1993): 39–72; Daniel N. Rolph, “Prophets, Kings, and Swords: The Sword of Laban and Its Possible Pre-Laban Origin,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies2/1 (1993): 73–79; William J. Adams Jr., “Nephi’s Jerusalem and Laban’s Sword,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2/2 (1993): 194–95; and John A. Tvedtnes, “The Iliad and the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/1 (1996): 147.
2. 1QM, col. 5, lines 11–14, in Florentino García Martínez, The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated (Leiden: Brill, 1994), 99; italics added.