Tuesday, December 10, 2019

1 Nephi 3:9-21


Having accepted his father’s task, Nephi and his less than enthusiastic brothers left camp and went to Jerusalem.  Nephi’s description in his record gives us insight to Nephite descriptions in the future.  The record will describe directions, cities, and large areas using Nephi’s description.  Robert Bennett and Jeffrey Chadwick explain Nephi’s words.

We read, for instance, that Lehi dwelt “at Jerusalem in all his days” (1 Nephi 1:4), yet we know that he did not live in the city of Jerusalem. Consider the following account: Once in the wilderness, the sons of Lehi returned to the “land of Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 3:9) intent on acquiring a scriptural record known as the plates of brass, in Laban’s possession. Laman was chosen to visit Laban in his home in the city of Jerusalem.[1]

It is important to remember that in the idiom of Nephi one always went up to come to the Jerusalem region, and one always went down when exiting the Jerusalem region. This is also the Hebrew idiom employed in the Bible, where persons in both the Old and New Testaments typically are said to go down to leave Jerusalem (see, for example, 2 Samuel 5:17; Luke 10:30; and Acts 8:15) and go up to come to Jerusalem (see, for example, 2 Chronicles 2:16 and Matthew 20:18).[2] 

Who was this Laban with whom they were going to meet?  Hugh Nibley gives us information that helps us realize who he was.

Laban of Jerusalem epitomizes the seamy side of the world of 600 B.C. as well as Lehi or Jeremiah or Solon do the other side. With a few deft and telling touches Nephi resurrects the pompous Laban with photographic perfection—as only one who actually knew the man could have done. We learn in passing that Laban commanded a garrison of fifty, that he met in full ceremonial armor with “the elders of the Jews” for secret consultations by night, that he had control of the treasury, that he was of the old aristocracy, being a distant relative of Lehi himself, that his house was a depository of very old family records, that he was a large man, short-tempered, crafty, and dangerous, and to the bargain cruel, greedy, unscrupulous, weak, vainglorious, and given to drink.[3]

Having arrived in the land of Jerusalem, the brothers had to decide who would go to Laban.  The brothers, “in the immemorial and inevitable manner of the desert, drew lots to see who would go in to Laban.”[4]  The lot fell to Laman.

Laman went to Laban and made the request for the plates of brass. 

We have no idea about what occurred during Laman’s meeting with Laban.  What we do know is that, for some reason, Laban became angry at Laman.  He accused him of being a robber and threatened to kill him.  “Since Laban had falsely accused Laman of being a ‘robber’ (a serious capital offense) and had sent his soldiers to execute the sons of Lehi on this pretext (1 Nephi 3:13, 25), Laban effectively stood as a false accuser. Such an accusation, coming from a commanding officer of the city, was more than an idle insult; it carried the force of a legal indictment. Since Nephi and his brothers were powerless to rectify that wrong, God was left to discharge justice against Laban.”[5]

Laman was able to escape and return to his brothers in their place of hiding.  He and his brothers were ready to call it quits and return home without the plates. 

Nephi, however, was not ready to give up.  “[W]e will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us” (1 Nephi 3:15).He encouraged them to be faithful and to keep the Lord’s commandments.  He then told them to return “to the land of their father’s inheritance.”   This tells us that Lehi did not live in the Jerusalem proper.  In fact, the land in question was probably not a part of the land of Jerusalem.

He reminded his brothers that Lehi knew Jerusalem would be destroyed.  The people rejected the prophets and had become a wicked people.  The Lord commanded Lehi to take his family and escape the destruction of Jerusalem.

He told them that they must have the records to “preserve unto our children the language of our fathers” (1 Nephi 3:19).  This turns out to be an incorrect assumption on Nephi’s part.  King Benjamin would explain the importance of the plates to his sons.

“And he also taught them concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, saying: My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plates, which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance, even at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God.
“For it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children, and so fulfilling the commandments of God, even down to this present time” (Mosiah 1:3-4) (Emphasis mine)

He was correct when he told them that the words of the prophets must be preserved. 

Nephi was successful in convincing his brothers to get their riches and attempt to purchase the brass plates.


[1] Jesus' Birthplace and the Phrase 'Land of Jerusalem', Robert R. Bennett, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[2] Lehi's House at Jerusalem and the Land of His Inheritance, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[3] Escapade in Jerusalem, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[4] Portrait of Laban, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[5] Legal Perspectives on the Slaying of Laban, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.

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