Liahona

Liahona

The liahona is a metallic sphere that, according to the Book of Mormon, served both as a compass and to give spiritual warnings to the characters, Lehi, Nephi, and their descendants, across the Arabian desert.

The name is also used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the name of its official international magazine in languages other than English.

Discovery

In the Book of Mormon account, the liahona was discovered by Lehi in front of the entrance to his tent, shortly after he and his family had left the city of Jerusalem. The sphere is described as being made of fine bronze, "precisely wrought" on which were seen two needles, one of which indicated the path that Lehi and his party were to follow on their journey through the desert in search of Promised Land. The use of the Liahona also had spiritual implications, with divine messages from God being imprinted on its surface, and its needles working "according to the faith, diligence, and care" that its users gave it, on occasions stopping working if they entered into rebellious spirits or infidelity to the laws of God. In addition to the book of First Nephi, the Liahona is mentioned in the Book of Alma in which the interpretation of the word is said to be compass or director.

Etymology

Professor Hugh Nibley, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave two possibilities for the meaning of the word liahona:

“Many people have treated the word liahona. For a few years now we have a professor at the Hebrew University... His name is Shunary. He has never joined the Church, but the first thing that fascinated him was the name Liahona. He traced it to the queen of bees, the leader of the flying bees of the desert. When the bee wanders, that's liahona. I took it from somewhere else. Yah is, logically, the Lord God. Liyah means the possessive 'De Dios is the guide', hona (Liyahhona). It's my guess, don't despise her. Whatever the case, it's a good guess. "

In the Book of Mormon the word is said to come from Reformed Egyptian and means "compass."

Symbolisms

Because the Book of Mormon is a source of theological direction for Latter-day Saint religion, its teachings have individual application to the lives of its adherents. Such an application is the case with the ensign, in which Latter-day Saint leaders have used the sphere of story as a symbology of human consciousness that can serve as a compass for the person to point in the direction of good. On other similar occasions it has been publicly said that Jesus Christ represents the compass that guides humanity in proportion to the diligence that is given to follow him. The Book of Mormon itself contains an instance in which the liahona is compared to the word of God.