Jacobugath was a notable city distinguished as the abode of extreme wickedness among the Nephite dissenters. Named after the apostate king Jacob, whose followers had separated from the main Nephite nation to form their own kingdom, Jacobugath played a pivotal role during a time of great tribal factionalism and unrest in Nephite society around A.D. 29-30. It is posited that under Jacob’s rule, the inhabitants of Jacobugath engaged in heinous activities such as secret murders and dark conspiracies, surpassing the wickedness observed across the wider region. These grave iniquities culminated in a divine retribution where, following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the city was specifically targeted and destroyed by fire as a direct consequence of the inhabitants’ choices to engage in actions that dismantled the peace and governance of their society (3 Nephi 9:9).
The scriptural account of the catastrophic destruction that swept the Nephite lands details that Jacobugath was one of several cities to suffer such fate. It is significant because it was explicitly mentioned by the Lord as being eradicated, suggesting its destruction held a greater moral or illustrative purpose (3 Nephi 9:9). This narrative is part of a broader recounting of a widespread natural calamity affecting sixteen named cities, with Jacobugath likely situated in the northernmost reaches of the Nephite territories, further north than other cities for which there are known locations within the text (3 Nephi 8–9). The designation of Jacobugath at the northern extreme implies its status as a frontier of Nephite civilization and perhaps a hub of particular evils that the Lord sought to purge.