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.
1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey
in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And
we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women
did bear children in the wilderness.
2 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us,
that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give
plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the
men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.
3 And thus we see 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; wherefore, he did provide
means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
4 And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea,
even eight years in the wilderness.
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]
[1] Discovering Lehi: New Evidence of Lehi and
Nephi in Arabia, Warren P. Aston, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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