In my reading in the Book of Mormon, I came across the interesting retelling of Zeniff’s story by his grandson, Limhi, in Mosiah chapter 7.

As a quick review. After Mosiah I took the righteous Nephites and found the people of Zarahemla and set up camp. A few years later, a group of Nephites, including Zeniff, go back to their original lands to see if they could reinhabit the land. No one from back in Zarahemla hears from them for years, so they send out a delegation led by a man named Ammon, they find Limhi (Zeniff’s grandson) and the people under bondage to the Lamanites. This is what Limhi said of how they came into bondage:

[Zeniff] being over-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom; and the land round about—

And all this he did, for the sole purpose of bringing this people into subjection or into bondage. And behold, we at this time do pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites, to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even all our grain of every kind, and one half of the increase of our flocks and our herds; and even one half of all we have or possess the king of the Lamanites doth exact of us, or our lives. (Book of Mormon, Mosiah, Chapter 7)

I was struck by how the zeal of Zeniff led to bondage. I don’t think zeal itself is a bad thing, but are there ways we get over-zealous to the point that it becomes a fault?

It seems to be that Zeniff took his desire to an extreme and it landed them in bondage.

Questions to Consider

• What does it mean to me to be over-zealous?
• What are ways I might be over-zealous?
• How can I guard myself against being over-zealous?