1 Nephi 17:5-10

Arabian Peninsula - EarthKAM photo requested by Adele C. Young Intermediate School, Brigham City, UT

Having travelled eastward across the Arabian Peninsula, they finally arrived at the Indian Ocean.  They called the land “Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey” (1 Nephi 17:5).  Robert Boylan describes a possible location for Bountiful.

[A]n eastward turn from the Nihm tribal area (a direction of travel matching what is described in 1 Nephi 17:1) leads one to the Arabian coast and the vicinity of Wadi Sayq, which some Latter-day Saint researchers see as a strong candidate for Nephi's Bountiful (1 Nephi 17:5). Wadi Sayq and other rare, fertile locales in the Dhofar region of Oman match Nephi's description of Bountiful rather well. [1]

As for the Indian Ocean, “And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters” (1 Nephi 17:5).  Nephi, on occasion, gives us the meaning of the name given, as he does with Irreantum.  Yet, he does not give the meaning of Bountiful.  We only receive a brief description of the land Bountiful.  Stephen Ricks writes about Nephi’s practice.

Paul Hoskisson, in a brief article on the etymology of the name Irreantum, notes that the reason why 3 percent of the names given in the Book of Mormon are included with their meanings is that the Nephites, whose native spoken language was Hebrew and whose written language (or script) was Egyptian, would have been unable to understand the meaning of these words. "The only rational reason," observes Hoskisson, "for Nephi to include both the transliteration and translation is that he did not expect his audience to immediately grasp the meaning of Irreantum, because it was not a readily recognizable Nephite word."²⁴ [2]

The trip east had been hard.  Nephi tells us they “had suffered many afflictions and much difficult, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all” (1 Nephi 17:6).  Bountiful was a welcome relief from their suffering.

The family had settled in at Bountiful.  After many days, the Lord came to Nephi and told him to go to the mountain in the area.  Nephi obeyed the Lord’s command and went to the mountain.

Once on the mountain, he was commanded to build a ship.  The Lord would show him how to build the ship.  The purpose of the ship would be to take them “across these water” (1 Nephi 18:8).

Nephi responds by asking the Lord where he should go to find ore to make the tools he would need to construct the ship.  Here, Nephi gives us some information about his background.

Nephi appears to be familiar with metallurgy, as has been suggested, especially by John Tvedtnes.²⁰ When he is at Irreantum he is commanded by the Lord to "construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee" (1 Nephi 17:8). Nephi then proceeds to ask "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools" (1 Nephi 17:9). It has been noted that Nephi did not ask how to make tools, nor did the Lord say he would show Nephi how to make them. Nephi only asked to find the ore so he could make them. This would seem to indicate that Nephi already had the necessary knowledge to make tools. He evidently already knew how to make bellows out of hides without information from the Lord (1 Nephi 17:11).^[3] 

The Lord told Nephi where he should go to find the ore he would need to make the tools.

Hugh Nibley sums up the situation.

One significant aspect of the story of Lehi in the Desert must not be overlooked. It is wholly, from beginning to end, a history of the Old World. There is in it not so much as a hint of the "Noble Red Man." Nothing in it ever betrays the slightest suspicion that the drama is going to end in the New World. Lehi's people thought they had found their promised land in Bountiful by the sea and were horribly upset when Nephi, who himself had thought the project impossible (1 Nephi 17:8—9), undertook by special instruction to build a ship.^[4]

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[1] On Not Understanding the Book of Mormon, Robert Boylan, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 27, 2013.

[2] Lehi and Local Color, Stephen D. Ricks, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 27, 2013.

[3] The Rechabites: A Model Group in Lehi's World, John W. Welch, and Jeffrey P. Thompson, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 27, 2013.

[4] Lehi the Winner, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 27, 2013.