3 Nephi 12:41
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile,
go with him twain.
The dominant political unit had a legal right to
demand services of the general population. Guelich remarks: “Commandeer [for
compel] represents an old custom stemming from Persian origins that required
one to perform or to grant services according to another’s wish. The Roman soldiers
apparently maintained the detested practice in using Jewish civilians for their
purposes. For example the Romans commandeered Simon to bear Jesus’ cross (Mark
15:21). Mile was a Roman measurement of about 1000 paces, just less than
a mile. This request was legally binding” (Guelich, The Sermon on the Mount,
222-23; internal references silently removed).
Although being commandeered in such a way was
legal, the law was imposed by the conqueror, and it would have been natural to
begrudge the labor thus imposed. Jesus requires the person commandeered to give
up his desire for retaliation, to perform the required service, and to offer an
additional measure of service. What is freely given cannot be commandeered.
What is given away cannot provoke retaliation.
Book of Mormon Context: Because the Persian
practice (and its Roman sequel) came after Lehi left Jerusalem, the Nephites
probably had no experience with this type of law. Even though this particular
example would have had no cultural referent in the New World, the principle of
foregoing retaliation was still important. (Brant A. Gardner, Second
Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6
vols. [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 5:432)
