Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren.
But behold, their anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.
Yea, they did murmur against me, saying: Our younger brother thinkeths to rule over us; and we have had much trial because of him; wherefore, now let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted more because of his words. For behold, we will not that hve shallim to be our ruler:; for it belongeths unto us, whicho are the elder brethren, to rule over this people.
Now I do not write upon these plates, all the words which they murmured against me. But it sufficeth me to say, that they did seek to take away my life.
And it came to pass that the Lord did warn me, that I, Nephi, should depart from them, and flee into the wilderness, and all thosey whicho would go with me.
Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother, and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all thosey whicho would go with me. And all thosey whicho would go with me, were thosey whicho believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words.
And we did take our tents and whatsoever things were possible for us, and did journey in the wilderness for the space of many days. And after that we had journieyed for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents.
And my people would that we should call the name of the place Nephi; wherefore, we did call it Nephi.
And all thosey whicho were with me, did take it upon them to call themselves the people of Nephi.
And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord, in all things, according to the law of Moses.
And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly:; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.
And I, Nephi, had also brought the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass; and also the ball, or compass, which was prepared for my father, by the hand of the Lord, according to that which is written.
And it came to pass that we began to prosper exceedingly, and to multiply in the land.
And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people whicho were now called Lamanites, should come upon us and destroy us:; for I knew their hatred towards me and my children, and thosey whicho were called my people.
And I did teach my people, that they should build buildings;, and that they should work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.
And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon, save it were not built of so many precious things:; for they were not to be found upon the land;, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people that they should be industrious, and that they should labor with their hands.
And it came to pass that they would that I should be their Kking. But I, Nephi, was desirous that they should have no Kking; nevertheless, I did do for them according to that which was in my power.
And behold, the words of the Lord had been fulfilled unto my brethren, which he spake concerning them, that I should be their ruler and their teacher;. wWherefore, I had been their ruler and their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time that they sought to take away my life.
Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying: Tthat: iInasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.
And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, therefore the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.
And thus saith the Lord God,: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.
And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed:; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.
And because of their cursing which was upon them, they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.
And the Lord God said unto me,: tThey shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction.
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did consecrate Jacob and Joseph, that they should be priests and teachers over the land of my people.
And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.
And thirty years had passed away from the time we left Jerusalem.
And I, Nephi, had kept the records upon my plates, which I had made, of my people thus far.
And it came to pass that the Lord God said unto me,: Make other plates; and thou shalt engraven many things upon them which are good in my sight, for the profit of thy people.
Wherefore, I, Nephi, to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord, went and made these plates upon which I have engraven these things.
And I engravened that which is pleasing unto God. And if my people bare pleased with the things of God, they will be pleased with mine engravings which are upon these plates.
And if my people desire to know the more particular part of the history of my people, they must search mine other plates.
And it sufficeth me to say, that forty years had passed away, and we had already had wars and contentions with our brethren.
Influences
- 5:7 — Romans 15:4 (KJV)For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
- 5:8 — Galatians 2:10 (KJV)Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
- 5:8 — 2 Maccabees 1:36 (KJV)And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi.
- 5:9 — Acts 19:13 (KJV)Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
- 5:14 — Galatians 2:2 (KJV)And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
- 5:17 — 1 Corinthians 4:12 (KJV)And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
- 5:18 — Acts 18:14 (KJV)And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
- 5:20 — John 12:38 (KJV)That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
- 5:25 — 2 Peter 1:13 (KJV)Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
- 5:25 — Luke 22:19 (KJV)And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
- 5:32 — 1 Corinthians 2:11 (KJV)For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Notes
- 5:6
This is the only reference to sister(s) in the Book of Mormon. The words grandmother and aunt are never used.
Nephi never mentions his wife's name. Nephi does not name any of his own children either (1 Nephi 18:19). Interestingly, he uses his own name "I, Nephi" eighty-six times.
Sariah is one of only three women in the New World who are given names. The others are "Abish" in Alma 19:16, and "the harlot Isabel" in Alma 39:3.
"The fact that the Book of Mormon story says so little about women seems to throw a serious cloud of doubt over Joseph Smith's contention that it was written by a number of ancient Jewish authors after 600 B.C. The claim is that these men had the ancient books of the Bible-books which contain the names of many women and stories concerning them. However, the uniform lack of material regarding women in the Book of Mormon points to just one author." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 199.
- 5:8
"There are thirty-two interesting parallels between material found in three books of the Apocrypha and the Book of Mormon story of Nephi....Interestingly, twenty-eight of the thirty-two parallels to the Apocrypha are found in the first five chapters of the Book of Mormon. This constitutes an extraordinary cluster of similarities..." -Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, p. 29.
Parallel: There is a significant parallel in wording between 2 Maccabees and the Book of Mormon in that both books use the words "the place" and "call it Nephi" (see 2 Maccabees 1:34, 36).
For other parallels, please see: 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 1:2, 1 Nephi 1:17, 1 Nephi 4:20-24, 1 Nephi 2:4-6, 1 Nephi 3:3, 1 Nephi 3:16, 1 Nephi 3:25, 1 Nephi 3:31, 1 Nephi 4:1-2, 1 Nephi 4:4-5, 1 Nephi 4:7-9, 1 Nephi 4:18, 1 Nephi 4:19-24 & 38, 1 Nephi 4:20, 1 Nephi 4:27, 1 Nephi 5:9, 1 Nephi 13:40, 2 Nephi 5:8, Mosiah 10:13, 4 Nephi 1:31.
For a full note on the use of the Apocrypha, please see the annotation at 1 Nephi 1:1.
- 5:21
The 1830 edition of 2 Nephi 30:6 read, “shall be a white and delightsome people.” In 1840, this wording was changed to “shall be a pure and a delightsome people.” However, in 1841 the text was reverted back to “white and delightsome.” It was not changed again to “pure and delightsome” until 1981—three years after the 1978 lifting of the priesthood ban.
Although many Latter-day Saints argue that “white” should be understood metaphorically as referring to righteousness or purity rather than race or ethnicity, statements from LDS leaders leave little ambiguity about how these passages were historically interpreted. Here are just a few statements from LDS authorities:
“You may inquire of the intelligent of the world whether they can tell why the aborigines of this country are dark, loathsome, ignorant, and sunken into the depths of degradation …When the Lord has a people, he makes covenants with them and gives unto them promises: then, if they transgress his law, change his ordinances, and break his covenants he has made with them, he will put a mark upon them, as in the case of the Lamanites and other portions of the house of Israel; but by-and-by they will become a white and delightsome people” (Journal of Discourses 7:336).
At the October 1960 LDS Church Conference, Spencer Kimball utilized 2 Nephi 30:6 when he stated how the Indians “are fast becoming a white and delightsome people.” He said,
“The [Indian] children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation” (Improvement Era, December 1960, pp. 922-3).
During the same message Kimball referred to a 16-year-old Indian girl who was both LDS and “several shades lighter than her parents…” He went on to say,
“These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated.”
Elder Eugene J. Neff, in a 1927 conference message claimed, “The first missionaries went from this section around to another little town on the east side of the island, and there they gathered in a grass hut one hundred people to hear the message of these strange white men, As they all sat around the mat and heard the voice of this missionary from Utah, they were transfigured before George Q. Cannon, and he saw ninety-seven of them become white, and three of them remained dark. He did not understand. He did not know why it was that three of them would remain dark and all the rest should become light. He received a partial answer to this manifestation when it was learned that ninety-seven of those people in meeting at this time joined the Church, became devout members, lived and died Latter-day Saints, while three of them never did. It is said that they will become a white and delightsome people. They are delightsome at present, and I believe they are going to become white. They are growing whiter from year to year. I have said to myself and to some of my intimate friends that I thought the Hawaiian people would become white and delightsome, through intermarriage. I do not know whether that is according to the doctrines of the Church or not, but they have married the oriental races and married white people on the islands to such an extent that today there are more half casts than there are pure Hawaiians” (Conference Report, April 1927, p.49).
The Juvenile Instructor (26:635) reads, “From this it is very clear that the mark which was set upon the descendants of Cain was a skin of blackness, and there can be no doubt that this was the mark that Cain himself received; in fact, it has been noticed in our day that men who have lost the spirit of the Lord, and from whom his blessings have been withdrawn, have turned dark to such an extend as to excite the comments of all who have known them.”
See also 2 Nephi 5:21; 2 Nephi 30:6; 3 Nephi 2:15-16; Jacob 3:8-9; Alma 3:6.
- 5:33
Many of the same phrases that appear in the Book of Mormon are also found in Smith’s writings. Among them is the recurring expression “more particular."
This phrase, "more particular," can also be found in: 1 Nephi 19:2; Alma 13:19; and D&C 10:39-40.
See 2 Nephi 28:22; 1 Nephi 1:1; 2 Nephi 26:15; 2 Nephi 28:16; and 1 Nephi 8:2 as other examples of Smith's common phrases.
- 5:34
It is reasonable to wonder how, within just forty years, the population could have grown large enough to sustain what the text describes as “wars.” After all, this would still have been the first generation of people in the New World. It is also important to note that Lehi’s original group likely consisted of only seventeen to nineteen adults.