Now the people which
were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites,
Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.
But I, Jacob, shall
not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites
that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I
shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the
kings.
And now it came to
pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to
grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices,
such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also
Solomon, his son.
Yea, and they also
began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in
pride.
Wherefore I, Jacob,
gave unto them these words as I taught them in the temple, having first
obtained mine errand from the Lord.
For I, Jacob, and my
brother Joseph had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people, by the
hand of Nephi.
And we did magnify our
office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of
the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all
diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come
upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we
would not be found spotless at the last day.
Jacob 1:13-19
Jacob tells us about the seven groups or tribes that were
formed after Lehi’s death. They were
Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and
Ishmaelites. Note that there is not a
Samite group or a group for each of the two sons of Ishmael. Sam was told that his descendants would be
numbered among Nephi’s descendants (2 Nephi 4:11). We have no idea why the two sons of Ishmael
were put together in one group, the Ishmaelites.
Jacob sets the standard how the groups will be addressed
throughout the remainder of the Book of Mormon.
Those who are friendly towards Nephi are called the Nephites. Those that oppose the people of Nephi are
called Lamanites.
“After leading his family and a few others out of Jerusalem,
Lehi established his colony in the Western Hemisphere as a branch of Israel in
a new promised land, but its organization was inherently unstable, for it seems
to have given no clear principle for resolving political disputes. The seven
lineage groups established at Lehi's death and mentioned consistently in the
Book of Mormon were Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites,
Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites (Jacob 1:13; 4 Ne. 1:36—38; Morm. 1:8; Welch, 1989,
p. 69). When this system proved unable to keep the peace, Nephi1 led
away the first four of these family groups, who believed the revelations of
God; established a new city; and accepted the position of Nephite king by
popular acclamation. The other three groups eventually developed a monarchical
system, with a Lamanite king receiving tribute from other Ishmaelite, Lamanite,
and Lemuelite vassal kings.”[1]
Shortly after Nephi died, and Second Nephi began his rule,
the people began to turn away from the Lord.
They began to seek after gold and silver. They desired many wives and concubines like
David and Solomon. And, we have the
first appearance of the Nephite disease, being lifted up in their pride.
Seeing the condition of the people, Jacob knew the
responsibilities given him and Joseph when Nephi consecrated them as priests
and teachers to the Nephites. Jacob,
“having first obtained mine errand from the Lord” (Jacob 1:17), went to the
temple to teach them people.
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