During the era of internal turmoil and secret combinations that plagued the Jaredite civilization, there emerged a figure known simply as Gilead’s priest. He occupied a position of religious authority under the Jaredite ruler Gilead. Amidst the pervasive atmosphere of treachery and assassination that characterized this tumultuous period among the Jaredites, the high priest betrayed his sovereign. He murdered Gilead as he sat upon his throne, an act emblematic of the lawlessness and violence of the time (Ether 14:9). This act of regicide appeared to be driven by the widespread influence of secret combinations and power struggles that defined the latter days of the Jaredite nation.
The high priest’s act of murder, however, did not grant him a lasting legacy or power, for he himself fell victim to the same secretive and brutal culture that he had perpetuated. He was subsequently murdered in secrecy by Lib, another individual engaged in the cycle of conspiracies and killings that ultimately led to the downfall of the Jaredite nation (Ether 14:10). The life and death of Gilead’s priest thus serve as a stark reflection of the destructive consequences of secret combinations and moral decay as recounted in the Book of Ether.