Supplemental Reading for 1 Nephi 1-3

Here's a little background history and some random commentary that I hope will help with understanding more about Nephi chapters 1-3!

First some history. The Pharaoh of Egypt had exercised political control of the kingdom of Judah from 608 B.C. to 605 B.C. In 605 B.C., the Babylonians defeated Egypt at the battle of Carchemish and took control of the Jewish nation (see 2 Kings 23-25; 2 Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 26-39). At this time, southern Palestine (the area controlled by the tribe of Judah and Benjamin- the other 10 tribes had already been scattered by Assyria) was made a vassal state of Babylon. However, the Jews decided to revolt against Babylonian rule and King Nebuchadnezzar came with his armies, surrounded Jerusalem, and ended the rebellion.

King Zedekiah was put in charge and it was in the first year of his rule that Lehi began preaching to the Jews against their wickedness and testifying that if they did not repent, Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed and the people scattered. Jeremiah was a contemporary of Lehi and also prophesied these same things. Jeremiah was eventually taken and cast into prison on charges of blasphemy by wicked priests who did not like his prophecies. Had Lehi stayed in Jerusalem, this would probably have been his fate too.

As a note, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in 587 B.C. and carried away most of the Jews to Babylon. Those left behind eventually became the Samaritans and were hated by the Jews because they intermarried with other peoples while the main body of the Jewish people were in captivity. The majority of Jews were not permitted to return to Israel and rebuild the temple until after the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians and the Persian king Cyrus decreed the Jewish return in 537 B.C.

Because Lehi's life was in danger, the Lord commanded that he and his family should depart into the wilderness. They kept records of their journeys in what Nephi describes as consisting of "the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians" (1 Nephi 1:2) Reformed Egyptian would then have to have been very efficient at conveying many ideas with few words. For comparison, in English it takes about 15 words to translate 7-10 Hebrew words. And Mormon and Moroni stated that they did not use Hebrew because the plates were not sufficiently large to hold all their writings in Hebrew. Reformed Egyptian must have been quite the shorthand!

Continuing with Lehi's journey into the wilderness, we read that they came to the borders of the Red Sea and travelled through days through this wilderness before setting up the camp. It was from this place that the Lord commanded Lehi to send his sons back to Jerusalem for the plates of brass. The distance from Jerusalem to the fountain (meaning the head or beginning of) of the Red Sea (this is known as the Gulf of Aqaba now- see Bible Map 2)) is about 180 miles through hot, barren, thief infested land. And they travelled 3 days beyond that before Nephi went back for the plates of brass. That makes it about a 12 to 14 day trip one way to return to Jerusalem. Long way!

A few notes on Laban. For Laban to have a genealogy of Lehi's family, they must have been distance relations. However, Laban had risen to enough prominence to command a garrison of 50 men, he met with the elders of the Jews (a strong political connection), and had control of a treasury that contained the plates of brass among other things. Laban must therefore had quite a bit of power and, as he was a cruel and greedy man, must have been an intimidating person with whom to meet.

On Jewish oaths. The Jews were commanded by in the Old law to perform all their oaths unto the Lord. In 1 Nephi 3:15 Nephi says that "As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us." An oath made in the name of the Lord and in the name of the person performing the action was the strongest oath and promise that could be made. It was as good as the strongest written contract would be today. It is evidence that Nephi not only believed what he said in 3:7, but that he was staking his life on his belief.

One last gospel commentary. in 3:22-24 Nephi and his brothers gather all their worldly goods, everything that made them wealthy in the world (as Lehi was wealthy) and they planned to give all these things to Laban in exchange for the brass plates. Dollar to dollar value would not even come close to comparing. But Nephi and Lehi wanted the plates to "preserve unto our children the language of our fathers; And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, even down unto this present time." (3:19-20)

This reminds of the parables given by the Savior in Matthew about treasures in Heaven. Christ said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. " (Matthew 6:1-21) Nephi and Lehi understood that the treasure that was the brass plates had the power to bring them to eternal life and innumerable treasures in heaven in the presence of God, while their worldly wealthy could not stay with them forever. I've always loved that lesson!

Hopefully this background makes reading these chapters more enlightening!