Nephi convinces his brothers to go back to their home, get
their wealth, and use it to purchase the brass plates. In verses 22-23, we read they left Jerusalem
and “went down” to their former residence.
Having gathered things together, they left and “went up” again into
Jerusalem. From this, we can imply Lehi’s
residence was not in Jerusalem but some distance outside the city.
Earlier in the record, Nephi referred to this land as “the
land of our father’s inheritance”
(emphasis mine). In verse 22, Nephi
refers to this as “the land of our inheritance”
(emphasis mine). Apparently, it was
intended this land was to be passed on to his sons.[1]
Having gathered everything together, they returned to Laban
and offered to purchase the brass plates.
Laban, being a greedy soul, realized he could simply steal their wealth
and not give them the records. He chased
them out and, to cover up his crime, he ordered his servants to kill them.
The prophet Micah warned against this lust for wealth. “WOE to
them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them
away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage” (Micah
2:1 - 2). Paul would write Timothy, “For the love of money is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred [GR wandered, apostatized]
from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1
Timothy 6:10).
Having left everything behind, they fled from the servants
and finally found a place of safety in a cave outside of Jerusalem. Hugh Nibley explains the fact that numerous
caves could be found outside of Jerusalem was not known in the early 19th
century.
Thoroughly typical also is the
hiding out of the young men in caves near the city while they waited for
Laban's henchmen to cool off and debated with Oriental heat and passion their
next move (1 Nephi 3:27—28). Since the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly started
to appear many years ago, its readers have been treated to a constant flow of
official reports on newly-discovered caves in and near Jerusalem. The country
is peppered with them … But who in America knew of these hiding places a
hundred years ago?[2]
Laman and Lemuel were angry with Nephi and Lehi. They berated Nephi and Sam and, to top
things, off, began beating with a rod.
John L. Sorenson uses these scriptures to give us a description of both
Laman and Lemuel.
Nothing is said directly about
Laman's physical characteristics, but the fact that the two eldest brothers
could "smite [Nephi and Sam] . . . with a rod" and that later they
"did lay their hands upon [Nephi]" and "bind [him] with
cords" (1 Nephi 3:28, 7:16) could suggest that the older pair were of
about the same stature as Nephi. As the eldest son, and a proud and
self-centered one at that, Laman comes through in the record as being somewhat
haughty and probably pushy among his lessers but, as in dealing with Laban,
lacking confidence, being frustrated and unstable in the face of determined
opposition (cf. 1 Nephi 2:9; 17:55)…
Lemuel seems to have been
thoroughly dominated by Laman while possessing many of the same personality
characteristics (see their pairing in Lehi's lament, 1 Nephi 2:9-14). Little is
said about him as an individual, and never is there an indication that he stood
up to or disagreed with Laman (cf. 1 Nephi 3:28, "for he hearkened unto
the words of Laman"). His age must have been about twenty-one.[3]
While beating them, an angel appeared and began chastising
Laman and Lemuel. Why do you beat Nephi
with a rod (It is possible that the elder brothers deliberately selected the
rod to punish their brother to symbolize their claim to ruling authority in the
family.[4]),
he asks. (“Yet, oddly enough, the angel
who stops Laman and Lemuel mentions only the abuse of Nephi [see 1 Nephi 3:29].
We do not know if this is an intentional omission in the record or not.[5])
One constant complaint we will hear from Laman and Lemuel is
that Nephi wants to rule over them, his older brothers. They haven’t even left Jerusalem, and the
angel gives them their explanation. “Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him
to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities?” (1 Nephi
3:29). They are warned (and will be
warned again) it’s their fault this will occur.
It is because of their sins.
They are commanded to return to Jerusalem and Laban will be
delivered into their hands. Having
delivered his message, the angel departs.
Seeing an angel from God had no effect on Laman and
Lemuel. No sooner had it left then they
began their murmuring. They did not
believe the Lord could deliver Laban into their hands. “[H]e is
a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why
not us” (1 Nephi 3:31.
Chapter 4
Nephi slays Laban at
the Lord's command and then secures the plates of brass by stratagem—Zoram
chooses to join Lehi's family in the wilderness. About 600–592 B.C.
Nephi attempted to reassure Laman and Lemuel. We will go again to Jerusalem, keeping the
Lord’s commandments. The Lord is mightier
than Laban’s fifty or even his tens of thousands. The Lord is mightier than all the Earth. Hugh Nibley describes the situation.
Yet even the older brothers, though
they wish to emphasize Laban's great power, mention only fifty (1 Nephi 3:31),
and it is Nephi in answering them who says that the Lord is "mightier than
Laban and his fifty," and adds, "or even than his tens of thousands"
(1 Nephi 4:1). As a high military commander Laban would have his tens of
thousands in the field, but such an array is of no concern to Laman and Lemuel:
it is the "fifty" they must look out for, the regular, permanent
garrison of Jerusalem.[6]
Nephi encouraged them to be strong like Moses. The words of Solomon addressed adversity.
If
thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
If
thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are
ready to be slain;
If
thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart
consider it? and he that keepeth thy
soul, doth not he know it? and shall not
he render to every man according to his works?
Proverbs 24:10 - 12
He used the example of the dividing of the Red Sea and the
destruction of Pharaoh’s army as an example of faith. After being discovered by Ammon and his
party, King Limhi called the people together and told them, “Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice,
and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry
ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness;
and many more things did he do for them” (Mosiah 7:19).
They had seen an angel and he spoke to them. The Lord will deliver us and destroy Laban
even as he did the Egyptians.
Having heard this, Laman and Lemuel were still angry and
continued to murmur. Even so, they did
follow Nephi to the walls outside of Jerusalem.
[1] Lehi's
House at Jerusalem and the Land of His Inheritance, Jeffrey R. Chadwick,
Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 6, 2013.
[2] The
City and the Sand, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed January 6, 2013.
[3] The
Composition of Lehi's Family, John L. Sorenson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed January 6, 2013.
[4] Notes
and Communications: Rod and Sword as the Word
of God, John A. Tvedtnes, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed
January 6, 2013.
[5] Sam:
A Just and Holy Man, Melvin J. Thorne and John Welch, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 6, 2013.
[6] The
City and the Sand, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed January 6, 2013.
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