The Jaredite journey begins at the “great tower” at the time the Lord confounded the “language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth” (Ether 1:33). Jared and his brother cried to the Lord that “he confound not their language,” and the language of their families and their friends, “that we may not understand our words” (Ether 1:34-37). The Lord honored their request and agreed to lead them “into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth” (Ether 1:42). All of this took place at the “great tower” which, although not stated, appears to be the tower of Babel, located along the Euphrates River south of Bagdad in present-day Iraq (See Gen. 11:1-9; and Bible Dictionary, “Babylon or Babel,” and Map 9, “The World of the Old Testament,” in the LDS Bible Appendix).

Jared and his brother were instructed to “gather together [their] flocks, both male and female, of every kind; and also of the seed of the earth of every kind; and [their] families,” and the Lord would meet them in the “valley which is northward” (Ether 1:41-42). The Lord promised to bless them and lead them to a choice land where he would make of them “a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth” (Ether 1:43).

The Lord directed that the departing group would be composed of the brother of Jared’s “families; and also Jared thy brother and his family; and also thy friends and their families, and the friends of Jared and their families” (Ether 1:41). This was potentially a rather substantial group when it expanded to include many “friends and their families.” Clearly the Lord wanted significantly more people than Jared and his family and the brother of Jared and his families to venture forth to the promised land. The families of their friends would provide potential spouses for the children of Jared and his brother, not unlike the blending of Ishmael’s children with Lehi’s family when they journeyed from Jerusalem (1 Ne. 16:7). Note that the text says that Jared had a family, and the brother of Jared had families (plural). This could mean that the brother of Jared’s family was older and his children already had families of their own, whereas Jared, being younger, had a family with no married children. If the brother of Jared were the oldest, this could explain why he was the leader of the group. At the end of the brother of Jared’s life, each of his four sons refused their inherited right to succeed their father as the leader of the two families, and the succession of kingship authority was transferred from the brother of Jared’s family to Jared’s family (Ether 6:19-30).