Page:A dictionary of the Book of Mormon.pdf/11



.—The name of a person or place printed in Italics directs attention to the matter under that particular heading for further information, and obviates the necessity of references, such as [See Alma].

AARON. One of the sons of the Nephite King, Mosiah II, generally supposed to have been the eldest, as it is said that the sovereignty of the people rightly belonged to him on the death of his father, but he refused this great honor on purpose to fulfil a mission to the Lamanites, upon which he and his brothers had set their hearts. Aaron was born in the land of Zarahemla, probably not earlier than B. C. 125, as his father would then have been about thirty years old. During his youth he was wayward and uncontrollable, and joined with those who persecuted the people of God. In fact he and his brothers and the younger Alma were leaders among those who harassed the church. The conduct of the young princes in this regard cannot be ascribed to the corrupting influence of lives of pomp and luxury spent at their father's court, for that was a model of simplicity and frugality, and the king himself labored with his hands to lighten the burdens of the people.  b