1 Nephi 16:30-39

Using the Liahona, Nephi was directed to where he would find food.  Here we see an example of how the Liahona worked.  Directions were given to Nephi, in writing, on the Liahona.  This is how he was directed to find food.  He did not use it as we would use a compass to find directions.

Hugh Nibley describes hunting in the mountains of Arabia. 

Hunting in the mountains of Arabia to this day is carried out on foot and without hawks or dogs; in classical times the hunter in this area was equipped with a bow and a sling—exactly like Nephi. Nephi's discovery that the best hunting was only at "the top of the mountain" (1 Nephi 16:30) agrees with later experience, for the oryx is "a shy animal that travels far and fast over steppe and desert in search of food but retires ever to the almost inaccessible sand-mountains for safety." In western Arabia the mountains are not sand but rock, and Burckhardt reports that "in these mountains between Medina and the sea, all the way northward (this is bound to include Lehi's area), mountain goats are met, and the leopards are not uncommon." Julius Euting has left us vivid descriptions of the danger, excitement, and exhaustion that go with the hunting of the big game that abounds in these mountains, which are, by the way, very steep and rugged.[1]

Nephi was able to acquire ample food for Lehi’s party.  It goes without saying that they were a happy people.  They had been starving; now they had the food they needed.  In their rejoicing, they became humble and gave thanks to the Lord for providing them food.

Lehi would refer to this instance when speaking to his family shortly before his death.  “Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with hunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you” (2 Nephi 1:24). 

 

Terrence Szink discusses the murmuring that had been going on before Nephi returned with food.

Both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon mention that this murmuring about the lack of food was directed against the Lord himself rather than against his prophet-leaders. The similarity continues in that the problem of food was solved miraculously … [The group in the Book of Mormon] were instructed by the Lord to look at the Liahona, their miraculous "compass." When they looked, they saw written directions that led Nephi to a place where he was able to kill game. When the family saw that he had obtained food for them, "how great was their joy! And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord, and did give thanks unto him" (1 Nephi 16:32; see also verse 39).[2]

The journey continued, “traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning” (1 Nephi 16:33).  Using Nephi’s explanation of their travels, we can get an idea of where the travelled in the Saudi peninsula.  The descriptions are too long and detailed to discuss fully here.[3]  It was at this campsite, Ishmael died and was buried at Nahom [HEB probably "consolation," from verb naham, "be sorry, console oneself]. 

Critics of the Book of Mormon remind us constantly that there is no archeological evidence to support the Book of Mormon.  This forum is not the appropriate place to challenge this claim.  Even so, it would be appropriate to explain that archeological evidence has been found showing the location of Nahom.

Excerpts of two articles are presented supporting Nahom.

Nephi's account specifies that Ishmael was buried in "the place which was called Nahom" (1 Nephi 16:34). Nephi's phrasing suggests that Lehi's group did not originate the name but learned it from local inhabitants. Modern Nehem includes an extensive traditional burial area with tombs dating as far back as neolithic times, long predating Lehi's day. The roots of the name itself in Hebrew refers to mourning, consoling, and complaining of hunger, thus fitting perfectly the events recorded by Nephi after the death of his father-in-law, Ishmael (see 1 Nephi 16:35–39).

The identification of the ancient name nhm with the modern place-name Nehem is supported by recent studies. S. Kent Brown has discussed three altar inscriptions on display at the Maʾrib Antiquities Museum in Sanaʿa, Yemen, containing nhm as a tribal name dating from the seventh to sixth centuries BC—roughly the time period when Lehi's family was traveling through the area.⁸ Nhm appears as a place-name and as a tribal name in southwestern Arabia in the pre-Islamic and early Islamic period in the Arab antiquarian al-Hamdānī's al-Iklīl  ⁹ and in his Ṣifat Jazīrat al-ʿArab.¹⁰ If, as Robert Wilson observes, there is minimal movement among the tribes over time,¹¹ the region now known as Nehem may well have had that or a similar name in antiquity.[4]

One result is that "the place which was called Nahom" (1 Nephi 16:34) has been more securely linked to southern Arabia since the discovery of limestone altars near Sanaʿa, Yemen. These altars carry inscriptions containing the Arabian name NHM, referring to the Nihm tribe.³ This discovery from the right time period (independently dated to the seventh and sixth centuries BC) and in the right location (south-southeast of Jerusalem; compare 1 Nephi 16:13) is impressive archaeological evidence in support of the historicity of the Book of Mormon.⁴  [5]

If you would like to do any further reading, click here for more articles discussing Nahom. 

Ishmael’s daughters mourned the loss of the father.  Their suffering during the journey added to their sorrow.  They began to murmur against Lehi and wanted to return to Jerusalem.  “Ishmael might then have been fifty-three or fifty-four when his family departed from the Jerusalem area … we cannot be sure of Ishmael's age at the time of his death in Nahom (1 Nephi 16:33-36), but it could have been some five years into the journey. If he died under sixty years of age, this would explain some of the anger of his daughters about what they considered his early demise caused by following Lehi's difficult wilderness agenda.”[6]

When things were hard, the Jews murmured against Moses and Aaron.

AND all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt!  or would God we had died in this wilderness!

And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?  were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

Numbers 14:1 - 5

“The name of the area in Yemen now mapped as ‘Nehem’ is pronounced by local inhabitants Nä-hum, derived from the Arabic root nhm, whose basic meaning is ‘growl, groan, roar; suffer from hunger; complain.’ The same root is found in biblical Hebrew (see Isaiah 5:29-30; Hosea 2:23) and in ancient Egyptian (nhm, ‘thunder, shout; nhmhm, ‘roar, thunder’). Thus a ritual concomitant of mourning (groaning) is also associated with this root, as well as the sense of suffering from hunger, which is equally apt in the context of 1 Nephi 16:35, which reports much complaining, suffering, and hunger.”[7]

Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael joined in the murmuring.  They decided the time had come to kill Lehi and Nephi.  Nephi, they whined, had “taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher, who are his elder brethren” (1 Nephi 16:37).  Nephi had lied to them about seeing angels, but it was done through his cunning and guile, he had deceived them.  Their hearts were stirred to anger.

The Lord intervened.  He “did chasten them exceedingly” (1 Nephi 16:39).  Having heard the word of the Lord, they calmed down and repented.

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[1] Into the Desert, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 23, 2013.

[2] Nephi and the Exodus, Terrence L. Szink, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 23, 2013.

[3] For a more complete discussion, see Refining the Spotlight on Lehi and Sariah, S. Kent Brown, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 23, 2013.

[4] On Lehi's Trail: Nahom, Ishmael's Burial Place, Stephen D. Ricks, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 23, 2013.

[5] On Not Understanding the Book of Mormon, Robert Boylan, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 23, 2013.

[6] The Composition of Lehi's Family, John L. Sorenson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 23, 2013.

[7] Lehi's Trail and Nahom Revisited, Warren P. Aston, and Michaela J. Aston, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 23, 2013.