The
First Book of Nephi
His
Reign and Ministry
An
account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons, being called,
(beginning at the eldest) Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. The Lord warns Lehi to
depart out of the land of Jerusalem, because he prophesieth unto the people
concerning their iniquity and they seek to destroy his life. He taketh three
days’ journey into the wilderness with his family. Nephi taketh his brethren
and returneth to the land of Jerusalem after the record of the Jews. The
account of their sufferings. They take the daughters of Ishmael to wife. They
take their families and depart into the wilderness. Their sufferings and
afflictions in the wilderness. The course of their travels. They come to the
large waters. Nephi’s brethren rebel against him. He confoundeth them, and
buildeth a ship. They call the name of the place Bountiful. They cross the
large waters into the promised land, and so forth. This is according to the
account of Nephi; or in other words, I, Nephi, wrote this record.
Chapter 1
Nephi
begins the record of his people-Lehi sees in vision a pillar of fire and reads
from a book of prophecy-He praises God, foretells the coming of the Messiah,
and prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem-He is persecuted by the Jews. About
600 B.C.
|
I,
|
Nephi.
Thus begins the Book
of Mormon. Who is Nephi, the author of this book? What is his
purpose for writing?
Before we begin studying the Book of Mormon, we should know about the author of
the first two books in the Book of Mormon.
Nephi was born to
Lehi and Sariah. He had three brothers – Laman, Lemuel, and Sam. Two more brothers
were born during his journey in the wilderness – Jacob and Joseph. There is no
mention of any sisters. This, of course, does not mean he did not have sisters.
If he did, he did not identify them.
As he introduces
himself, he gives us his qualification for writing this work – I, Nephi
born of goodly parents.[1]
Nephi recorded his
life and teachings on two different sets of plates, both called the plates of
Nephi (1 Nephi 9:2). On the first set of plates, known as the plates of Lehi, he
recorded “an account of the reign of the kings, and the wars and contentions of
my people” (1 Nephi 9:2).
Some thirty years
after leaving Jerusalem, he received a commandment of the Lord that he should
make a second set of plates.
“And thirty years
had passed away from the time we left Jerusalem.
“And I, Nephi, had
kept the records upon my plates, which I had made, of my people thus far.
“And it came to pass
that the Lord God said unto me: Make other plates; and thou shalt engraven many
things upon them which are good in my sight, for the profit of thy people” (2
Nephi 5:28-30).
He wrote, “I should
make these plates, for the special purpose that there should be an account
engraven of the ministry of my people … wherefore these plates are for the more
part of the ministry” (1 Nephi 9:3-4).
Nephi had no idea
why he was commanded to make the second set of plates.
“Wherefore, the Lord
hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose
I know not. “But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he
prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men” (1 Nephi
9:5-6).
Mormon would refer
to the records in the Words of Mormon.
“I speak somewhat
concerning that which I have written; for after I had made an abridgment from
the plates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki
spake, I searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and
I found these plates[what would be called the small plates of Nephi], which
contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of
this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.
“And the things
which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the
coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled;
yea, and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us
down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must
surely come to pass-
“Wherefore, I chose
these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I
shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I cannot write the hundredth part of
the things of my people.
“But behold, I shall
take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations, and put
them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice unto me; and I know
they will be choice unto my brethren.
“And I do this for a
wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the
Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the
Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do
according to his will.” (Words of Mormon 1:3–7)
The reason for the second set of plates became clear during the
translation process.
The first set of
plates translated [the large plates] contained the record of the reign of the
kings as well as wars and contentions. This portion of the record made up the
first 116 pages of manuscript that had been translated.
Martin Harris served
as Joseph’s first scribe. Because of his involvement with “Joe Smith and his
golden Bible,” he faced criticism from his wife and other family members. He
asked Joseph to allow him to take the manuscript pages to show his wife and
other family members. This would “allay their skepticism and criticism of the
translation.”[2]
Joseph inquired of the Lord twice, and each time was told no. Harris persisted,
and Joseph went to the Lord a third time. This time, he received permission to
allow Harris to take the manuscript. “The Prophet required Harris to solemnly
covenant that he would show them only to his brother, his parents, his wife,
and her sister.”[3]
Harris did not
return the manuscript when he said he would. Joseph, living in Harmony, PA at
the time, returned to Manchester, NY. There, he learned the manuscript had been
lost. Harris had not kept his word, and “indiscriminately showed it to persons
outside his family … The most widespread rumor was that Harris’ wife, irritated
at having earlier been denied a glimpse of the ancient plates, had removed the
manuscript translation from Martin’s unlocked bureau and burned it.”[4]
Hearing this, Joseph
cried, “Oh, my God! ... All is lost! all is lost! What shall I do? I have
sinned-it is I who tempted the wrath of God.”[5] He was chastised
by the Lord.
“Behold, you have
been entrusted with these things, but how strict were your commandments; and
remember also the promises which were made to you, if you did not transgress
them.
“And behold, how oft
you have transgressed the commandments and the laws of God, and have gone on in
the persuasions of men.
“For, behold, you
should not have feared man more than God. Although men set at naught the
counsels of God, and despise his words-
“Yet you should have
been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all
the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time
of trouble.
“NOW, behold, I say
unto you, that because you delivered up those writings which you had power
given unto you to translate by the means of the Urim and Thummim, into the
hands of a wicked man, you have lost them.” (D&C 3:5-8, 10:1)
This was the “wise
purpose” why the Lord commanded Nephi to write the plates and Mormon to include
them, unabridged, at the end of the record.
“And, behold, Satan
hath put it into their hearts to alter the words which you have caused to be
written, or which you have translated, which have gone out of your hands.
“And behold, I say
unto you, that because they have altered the words, they read contrary from
that which you translated and caused to be written;
“And, on this wise,
the devil has sought to lay a cunning plan, that he may destroy this work”
(D&C 10:10-12).
Just a note on the
use of “it came to pass” so often in the record. It came to pass Hebrew
way to introduce starting a new thought.[6]
In Hebrew, only four characters were used to denote the change. This is a
possible reason why Nephi used this phrase so often.
[1] Discussions on the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1-3, KBYU,
Dr. Gaye Strathearn.
[2] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Manuscript,
Lost 116 Pages,
Chritchlow, William J., III, Encylopedia
of Mormonism, pgs. 854-855, Macmillan Company (1992), Daniel H. Ludlow,
editor
[5] Joseph Smith:
Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), Richard L. Bushman,
67.
[6] Discussions on the Book of Mormon, 1
Nephi 1-3, KBYU, Dr. Gaye Strathearn.
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