Horses in the Book of Mormon

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The word "horse" is used in The Book of Mormon (a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement) in several passages.^[1] The occurrence of the word in the Book of Mormon is cited as an anachronism by critics, since it is widely accepted that horses were extinct in the Western Hemisphere over 10,000 years ago and did not reappear there until the Spaniards brought them from Europe.^[2] Despite this, apologists either claim that evidence of horses in the pre-Columbian Americas exists or argue that the word "horse" in the Book of Mormon does not refer to the species Equus caballus.

[edit] Apologetic arguments

Apologists refer to fossil evidence that some New World horses may have survived the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.^[3] However, this evidence is tenuous at best. The strongest argument that can be made for this point is that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Another approach sometimes taken is to argue that "horse" in the Book of Mormon does not refer to horses. The Book of Mormon never refers to horses being ridden, and in only a few instances does it refer to horses being used to pull "chariots" (2 Ne. 15:28, a quotation of Isa. 5:28; Alma 18:9-10, 12; 20:6). In all other passages (excepting 2 Ne. 12:7, quoting Isa. 2:7), horses are mentioned in conjunction with cattle, which could suggest they may have been draft animals or a source of food (1 Ne. 18:25; Enos 1:21; 3 Ne. 3:22; 4:4; 6:1; Ether 9:19). In 3 Ne. 21:14, Jesus threatens the destruction of horses and chariots unless "the Gentiles" repent, but apologetics claim this is not necessarily a reference to their existence in the Western Hemisphere, and argue that a resurrected Jesus as well as the Nephites would have been familiar with the Biblical use of horses and chariots as symbols of military might.

That horses in the Book of Mormon are not ridden, are mentioned in conjunction with cattle, and are supposedly used for locomotion only in two connected passages has been taken as significant by apologetics, who argue that "horse" in the Book of Mormon actually does not refer to any species within the genus Equus. Some believe the tapir may have been the animal referred to, and that it was called a horse by the early Book of Mormon people when they arrived from the Old World:

"[M]embers of Lehi's family may have applied loanwords to certain animal species that they encountered for the first time in the New World, such as the Mesoamerican tapir. While some species of tapir are rather small, the Mesoamerican variety (tapiris bairdii) can grow to be nearly six and a half feet in length and can weigh more than six hundred pounds. Many zoologists and anthropologists have compared the tapir's features to those of a horse or a donkey. 'Whenever I saw a tapir,' notes zoologist Hans Krieg, 'it reminded me of an animal similar to a horse or a donkey. The movements as well as the shape of the animal, especially the high neck with the small brush mane, even the expression on the face, are much more like a horse's than a pig's [to which some have compared the smaller species]. When watching a tapir on the alert...as he picks himself up when recognizing danger, taking off in a gallop, almost nothing remains of the similarity to a pig.'" (Robert R. Bennett, "Horses in the Book of Mormon," FARMS Research Report. [1])

Indigenous tribes' oral histories and lore do not support the speculation that ancient North American civilizations domesticated the tapir for transportation. However, it must be remembered the Book of Mormon claims to be a record of the Nephite people, who were completely exterminated, and that the remaining peoples, the Lamanites, were not the same people that would have written of horses in the Americas. While it would follow that there could exist some cultural artifact of tapir domestication in indigenous lore, it should not be expected that indigenous people would necessarily have domesticated the tapir as well, as the Nephites and the Lamanites were two different and distinct cultures. It is however, indisputable, that tapirs can be tamed and domesticated if captured when young, and refuse to breed in captivity.[2]

It should also be noted though that when one reads these particular mentionings of horses in 1 Ne. 18:25; 2 Ne. 12:7;15:28 they refer to the animals existence in Israel, particularly Jerusalem, and not in fact the Southern America's.

[edit] References