1 Ne 7:2-3 Why don’t Laman and Lemuel murmur about having to return to
Jerusalem again?
This might be the only
time Laman and Lemuel happily kept the commandment of the Lord. This time they were
headed back to Jerusalem for something they were interested in—women.
This is another example of Book of Mormon characters behaving in a manner so
common to human nature that the book must be about real people with real lives
and not the excited imagination of an unschooled fiction writer.
1 Ne 7:5 the Lord did soften the heart of Ishmael
Ishmael must have been a
man of sufficient faith and humility to respond to such a bold invitation.
Unfortunately, we do not learn much more about Ishmael from the record.
1 Ne 7:5 How do we
know that Ishmael was from the tribe of Ephraim?
In The Articles of Faith, James E. Talmage cites the prophet
Joseph as teaching the doctrine that Ishmael was from Ephraim:
“Ishmael
an Ephraimite – ‘The Prophet Joseph Smith informed us that the record of Lehi
was contained on the one hundred sixteen pages that were first translated and
subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgment is given us in the First Book
of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he himself being of the
lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that
his sons married into Lehi's family, and Lehi's sons married Ishmael's
daughters, thus fulfilling the words of Jacob upon Ephraim and Manasseh in the
48th chapter of Genesis [verse 16] which says: 'And let my name be named on
them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.'
Thus these descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim grew together upon this
American continent, with a sprinkling from the house of Judah, from Mulek
descended, who left Jerusalem eleven years after Lehi, and founded the colony
afterwards known as Zarahemla found by Mosiah -- thus making a combination, an
intermixture of Ephraim and Manasseh with the remnants of Judah, and for aught
we know, the remnants of some other tribes that might have accompanied
Mulek. And such have grown up upon the
American continent.’ -- From "Discourse by Apostle Erastus Snow," at
Logan, Utah, May 6, 1882, see Journal of Discourses, vol. 23, pp. 184, 185.”
(James E. Talmage, A Study of the
Articles of Faith, p.504-5)
1 Ne 7:6 How many were there in Ishmael’s family?
It is from this verse that the composition of Ishmael’s
family can be determined. Ishmael and his wife had two sons and five daughters.
When they left Jerusalem, the sons had already married (and possibly had
children) as implied by the phrase, the two sons of
Ishmael and their families. The five daughters, on the other hand, were
all single. The math works out nicely. Each of Lehi’s sons marry one of
Ishmael’s daughters, and Zoram marries the oldest daughter. Therefore, there
are no unmatched members of the camp until Jacob and Joseph are born.
“Our tradition that Ishmael's
ancestry went back to Ephraim, son of Joseph, is based on a discourse given by Elder
Erastus Snow, in Logan, Utah, on May 6, 1882. He said, ‘The prophet Joseph
informed us that the record of Lehi was contained on the 116 pages that were
first translated and subsequently stolen, and of which an abridgment is given
us in the First Book of Nephi, which is the record of Nephi individually, he
himself being of the lineage of Manasseh; but that Ishmael was of the lineage
of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi's family, and Lehi's sons
married Ishmael's daughters.’
“From the
above quotation and from 1 Nephi 7:6 we may propose that two of Ishmael's sons
had married daughters of Lehi and Sariah. That would mean the two families were
already related by marriage, which might explain Lehi's seeming nonchalance
about instructing his sons to bring Ishmael's family down into the wilderness.
There might already have been marriage plans between the two families—only the
setting for the ceremonies would now have to change from the city to the desert.
Another reason why Ishmael's family in particular was elected to join Lehi's
was that Ishmael's had five unmarried daughters; the four sons of Lehi along
with Zoram would in time marry Ishmael's daughters—a perfect five-way match set
up in advance by the Lord.” (Kent P. Jackson, ed., Studies in Scripture,
Vol. 7: 1 Nephi to Alma 29, p. 30.)
1 Ne 7:10-12 How is it that ye have
forgotten?
Nephi marvels at his brothers’ rebellion. Part of any good rebellion is
to forget the goodness of God. Laman and Lemuel had seen an angel, been
preserved by the hand of the Lord, and had known of the great blessings given
to the children of Israel as God’s covenant people. Still they chose to rebel. Thus we see how quick the children of men do forget the
Lord their God (Alma 46:8). Many latter-day saints have fallen because
they have likewise forgotten the goodness of God. How many have at one time had
strong, irrefutable testimonies only to be dimmed by the amnesia of inactivity
and iniquity? Maybe that is why the Lord has asked us to partake of the
sacrament weekly, remembering the body and blood of Christ, that we might not
forget the goodness of God.
1 Ne 7:14 Jeremiah have they cast
into prison
The events surrounding Jeremiah’s imprisonment are
consistent with Nephi’s description of conditions in Jerusalem. Jeremiah had
been rejected by his own people.
“The people's response to Jeremiah
was anything but positive. The men of Anathoth, Jeremiah's home town, sought
his life (see Jer. 11:21Jer. 11:21),
leading him to cry unto the Lord to know why the wicked prospered. (See Jer. 12:1Jer. 12:1.) He further
lamented over his being born ‘a man of strife and a
man of contention to the whole earth.’ (Jer. 15:10Jer. 15:10.) His enemies devised ways to oppose
his counsel and sought to take his life. (Jer. 18:18Jer. 18:18, Jer. 18:23 23.)
“Jeremiah was taken before the
princes of Judah and accused of being ‘worthy to
die’ for having prophesied against Judah. But as he faced his accusers
in the temple courtyard, Jeremiah fearlessly repeated his prophecy. His life
was spared, however, because of the intervention of a high-ranking officer.
(See Jer. 26:1Jer. 26.)
Jeremiah was placed in stocks overnight for prophesying against Jerusalem and
all Judah's cities. (See Jer. 19:0Jer. 19:1Jer. 19:2Jer. 19:3Jer.
19:4Jer. 19:5Jer. 19:6Jer. 19:7Jer. 19:8Jer. 19:9Jer. 19:10Jer. 19:11Jer.
19:12Jer. 19:13Jer. 19:14Jer. 19:15Jer. 19:16Jer. 19:17Jer. 19:18Jer. 19:19Jer.
19:20Jer. 19-20.) This was a
punishment to bring public scorn and ridicule upon an offender.” (Monte S.
Nyman, “Jeremiah's Prophetic Warning Rejected by People of Jerusalem,” LDS
Church News, 1994, 12/31/94)
The political situation of the time was precarious. The kingdom of Judah was sandwiched in between two great powers, the Egyptians and the Chaldeans (or Babylonians). The Jews had hopes that the Egyptian army would protect them from the Babylonians. In one instance in which the Babylonians had besieged Jerusalem, the army of Pharoah came up to Jerusalem and scared them off. After this, Jeremiah made it clear that Zedekiah was in trouble. He prophesied, ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire’ (Jer 37:7-8). Soon thereafter, Jeremiah was taken, accused of desertion, and imprisoned (Jer 37:12-15). Jeremiah would be in prison, off and on, for most of the next 11 years.
1 Ne 7:15 now, if ye have choice,
go up to the land….if ye go ye will also perish
This is a commonly used
parenting technique. Here, Nephi uses it on his brothers and new traveling
companions. It is the old, “go ahead! Try it and see!” argument. When a whining
teenager lacks the wisdom to see the consequences of a given action, a parent
might try this argument. It does two things, 1) places the responsibility for
the action in the court of the complainer, and 2) allows the complainer to
learn by sad experience the consequences of their decisions. At any rate, the
complaining promptly stops because permission for the action has been
conditionally granted. Nephi makes it clear to the rebellious—there are going
to be consequences if you return to Jerusalem; remember
the words which I speak unto you, that if ye go ye will also perish; for thus
the Spirit of the Lord constraineth me. Unfortunately for Nephi, their
response was more rebellious than that of the average teenager—they decided to
kill him.
1 Ne 7:16 they sought to take
away my life
“…in spite of all they were
taught, Laman, the archvillain, and his tag-along brother Lemuel emerge as
fundamentally corrupt men. Their record was dismal: they were materialistic,
faithless, disloyal, cowardly, complaining, cruel, lazy, untruthful, and, like
Jacob's son Reuben, ‘unstable as water’ ("Gen. 49:4Genesis 49:4)—humbling
themselves one day and breathing out threats the next ("1
Ne. 7:201 Nephi 7:20; "1 Ne. 16:516:5,
"1 Ne. 16:3232,
"1 Ne. 16:3939;
"1 Ne. 18:418:4,
"1 Ne. 18:1515,
"1 Ne. 18:2020).
The only thing that really impressed them was power ("1
Ne. 18:201 Nephi 18:20). Above all,
they were would-be murderers of their own father and brother. In the end, they
polluted their posterity with their lies and brought a curse upon them that was
not to be removed for more than a half a millennium.
“On the
other hand, Nephi was a man of astonishing faith, profound humility, and
consistent steadiness. In the latter, he was unequaled even by his parents…why
the striking contrast between Nephi and his two brothers? Was one so good, and
the others so bad? Is it a case of self-serving manipulation of the facts on
Nephi's part? Hardly. If anything, Nephi has moderated his own virtues. I
believe that Nephi and Laman symbolize that essential opposition between good
and evil drawn so vividly in the Book of Mormon. They represent the two
extremes found therein: life versus death, heaven versus hell, the kingdom of
God versus the kingdom of the devil, the spiritually minded versus the carnally
minded, the saved versus the lost—those sealed up to Christ and those sealed up
to the devil ("Alma 34:34"Alma 34:35"Alma
34:36Alma 34:34-36; "Alma
40:23"Alma 40:24"Alma 40:25"Alma 40:2640:23-26).
“Lehi knew
that Laman and Lemuel…had seen an angel ("1 Ne. 3:291 Nephi 3:29; "1 Ne.
4:34:3; "1 Ne.
7:107:10; "1 Ne.
17:4517:45), had experienced the power of God ("1 Ne. 7:181 Nephi 7:18;
"1 Ne. 17:4817:48,
"1 Ne. 17:52"1 Ne. 17:53"1 Ne.
17:54"1 Ne. 17:5552-55), and had heard the
voice of the Lord and received of his Spirit ("1 Ne.
16:391 Nephi 16:39; "1
Ne. 17:4517:45). Yet they plotted
Nephi's murder on at least four occasions ("1 Ne.
7:161 Nephi 7:16; "1
Ne. 16:3716:37; "1 Ne. 17:4817:48;
"2 Ne. 5:22 Nephi 5:2;
compare 1:24), and their father's at least once ("1
Ne. 16:371 Nephi 16:37). Nephi
accused Laman and Lemuel of being ‘murderers in
their hearts’ ("1 Ne. 17:441 Nephi 17:44). They were prepared to shed
innocent blood.
“These were not ignorant men; they
stood self-condemned. When literally shocked by the Spirit, they testified: ‘We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we
know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us’ ("1 Ne. 17:551 Nephi 17:55;
compare "2 Ne. 4:222 Nephi 4:22).“
(Rodney Turner, First Nephi: The Doctrinal Foundation, edited by Monte
S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., pp. 82 - 83.)
1 Ne 7:16 that they might leave
me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts
“Our recent Book of Mormon Sunday
School lesson brought back a memory that has made 1 Ne.
7:161 Ne. 7:16 very meaningful to us. Nephi
says he was bound with cords, ‘for they sought to
take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by
wild beasts.’ What wild beasts were there in the desert south of
Jerusalem that could devour a man?
“A frightening experience in 1988
has made this scripture very real to us. One night my wife and I were camped on
the Saudi Arabian desert near ancient For Olayah, eight kilometers from the Red
Sea and halfway between Jeddah and Yanbu, where we lived. We were studying the
antiquities and ruins of ancient civilizations that are found along the trail
Lehi may have traveled….We had no weapons and felt no danger until about
midnight when we were awakened by terrifying, panting noises just outside the
car.
“’It is only some wild dogs,’ said
my wife as she looked outside the car with half-opened eyes. ‘Throw some stones
and they will go away.’
“A second look caused both of us
to freeze with fear. There stood two huge, black hyenas, double the size of any
dog we'd ever seen, and much larger than those brown-spotted hyenas seen in zoos.
Their barrel chests were heaving, and their long tongues hung from gaping
mouths as they panted from what we guessed was a long run across the desert to
arrive at our camp. They had muscular shoulders which narrowed down to small
rumps and short hind legs. They were wild, carnivorous beasts, fully capable of
destroying a man. By the full moon, we could see them perfectly just 15 feet
away. Their yellowish eyes gleamed in the dark, and their pointed ears were
erect and directed toward us.
“Unprotected as we were, we had to
take some action. I got out of the car, gathered a few stones and started to
yell and throw the stones. To our great relief, the hyenas backed away. I
gathered some of the camp gear and jumped in the car, slamming all the doors,
only to see not two but four wild beasts approaching us. We honked the horn,
turned on the lights and started the engine, but the ‘devil dogs’ ominously
edged toward the car. But now we were safe, and soon the four of them lined up
in a single file and started trotting out across the barren desert.
“Later, we related this experience
to a friend, Bill Rogers, who had worked in Ethiopia. He was amazed that we had
survived. He said that in Ethiopia they also have large, black hyenas. The villagers
fear them more than lions, for they are known to come into the natives' huts
and compounds and carry away small children to devour in the desert. Perhaps we
felt the same fear Nephi had felt centuries before, for now we had a very good
idea about the threat of being actually devoured by wild beasts in the
wilderness.” (Lynn B.
Hilton, “Wild Beasts Still Stalk Lehi's Route,” LDS Church News,
02/08/92).
Hugh Nibley
“The Book of Mormon, in giving us
not a few such clear and vivid snapshots (there are many more to come) of life
in another world, furnishes picturesque but convincing proof of its own
authenticity. Nephi's complaint, ‘they sought to
take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by
wild beasts’ ("1 Ne. 7:161 Nephi 7:16), is ever in the mouth of the Arab
poet, for to leave one's enemy lying in the desert to be devoured by wild
beasts is standard and correct procedure when Arabs quarrel, and for all its
popularity with the poets, no mere figure of speech.” (Lehi in the
Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites, edited by John W.
Welch with Darrell L. Matthews and Stephen R. Callister, p. 44.)
1 Ne 7:21 I did frankly forgive them
Nephi’s response to this murderous attempt and apology was
to frankly forgive his brothers. This response was remarkable for two
reasons. First, Nephi had an incredible
generosity of spirit to forgive his brothers so quickly and freely. Secondly,
he understood that they had not only sinned against him but had also sinned
against God, necessitating that they pray unto the
Lord their God for forgiveness. Nephi exemplified the true spirit of
forgiveness. DC 64:9-10 states, Wherefore, I say
unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his
brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth
in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of
you it is required to forgive all men.
Howard W.
Hunter
“How are we supposed to act when
we are offended, misunderstood, unfairly or unkindly treated, or sinned
against? What are we supposed to do if we are hurt by those we love, or passed
over for promotion, or are falsely accused, or have our motives unfairly
assailed? Do we fight back?…Do we revert to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth, or as Tevye says in Fiddler on the
Roof, do we come to the realization that this finally leaves us blind and
toothless?…We can all be a little more forgiving.” (Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 18 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas
Bassett, p.25)
Neal A.
Maxwell
“[Refusing to forgive others is]
to hold hostage those whom the Lord would wish to set free.” (Conference Report, Oct. 1991 as taken
from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of
Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.26)
Richard G.
Scott
“When anguish comes from evil acts of others, there should be punishment and corrective action taken, but the offended is not the one to initiate that action. Leave it to others who have that responsibility. Learn to forgive; though terribly hard, it will release you and open the way to a newness of life. Time devoted by one injured to ensure the offender is punished is time wasted in the healing process.” (Ensign, May 1994, p.9 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.26)