1 Nephi 17:1-4

Chapter 17

Nephi is commanded to build a ship—His brethren oppose him—He exhorts them by recounting the history of God's dealings with Israel—He is filled with the power of God—His brethren are forbidden to touch him, lest they whither as a dried reed. About 592–591 B.C.

After burying Ishmael, they continued their journey in the wilderness.  They traveled eastward.  They had “much affliction” and their wives gave birth to children.  During their travails, they may have turned to the words of David.

SAVE me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.

I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Psalms 69:1 – 2, 14

Based on their movement eastward, we can speculate where they may have traveled, knowing what we know of this part of the world. 

In any consideration of where Bountiful might be, the pivotal scripture is Nephi's unambiguous statement that travel from Nahom to Bountiful was in a "nearly eastward" direction (1 Nephi 17:1) … It is clear from the text that the Lehites were doing anything but merely following a trading route complete with water holes on this last, most difficult, and dangerous stage of the entire journey.[1]

After burying Ishmael at Nahom they turned "nearly eastward" (1 Nephi 17:1) into the high desert, traveling through the harsh wilderness until they arrived at the coast at a fertile location they named Bountiful. Nibley and others note that this simple travel account fits well with what is now known of the ancient trade routes that carried frankincense from Oman and Yemen northward to the Mediterranean markets. These routes followed water holes through inland valleys that paralleled the east shore of the Red Sea.[2]

What may be significant is that Nephi noted the first births of children only as he finished his record of later events at Nahom, not before (see 1 Nephi 17:1). We naturally conclude that the women gave birth to their first children at Nahom and that the journey from the camp to Nahom took a year or less, the length of the new brides' pregnancies… Later Book of Mormon authors who had consulted the full set of records added important details, speaking of the family's suffering from both "famine" and "all manner of diseases" while crossing the desert (Mosiah 1:17; Alma 9:22).[3]

Though suffering great afflictions, Nephi tells us they received great blessings from the Lord.  They ate raw meat and their women “were strong, yea, even like unto the men” (1 Nephi 17:2).  (Grant Hardy wrote he would like to hear the women’s side of the story!) 

Nephi informs us “that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them” (1 Nephi 17:3).   Moreover, they sojourned for eight years in the wilderness.

In four verses, Nephi covers eight years of travel.  It’s strange that it took them eight years.  Most caravans only took a few months to travel the same distance.  What happened?

We read in Mosiah,

And moreover, [King Benjamin] also gave [Mosiah] charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and also the plates of Nephi; and also, the sword of Laban, and the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him.

Therefore, as they were unfaithful they did not prosper nor progress in their journey, but were driven back, and incurred the displeasure of God upon them; and therefore they were smitten with famine and sore afflictions, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty.

Mosiah 1:16 - 17

S. Kent Brown writes about the possibility Lehi’s party was held in captivity for some time during this eight-year period.[4]

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[1] Discovering Lehi: New Evidence of Lehi and Nephi in Arabia, Warren P. Aston, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 25, 2013.

[2] Lehi's Arabian Journey Updated, Noel B. Reynolds, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 25, 2013.

[3] New Light from Arabia on Lehi's Trail, S. Kent Brown, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 25, 2013.

[4] See A Case for Lehi's Bondage in Arabia, S. Kent Brown, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 25, 2013.