The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 1:17

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~600 BC

1830 Edition

But I shall make an account of my proceedings in my days—Behold I make an abridgment of the record of my father, upon plates which I have made with mine own hands; wherefore, after that I have abridged the record of my father, then will I make an account of mine own life.

Influences

2 Maccabees 2:31 (KJV)
But to use brevity, and avoid much labouring of the work, is to be granted to him that will make an abridgment.

Changes

But I shall make an account of my proceedings in my days—. Behold, I make an abridgment of the record of my father, upon plates which I have made with mine own hands; wherefore, after that I have abridged the record of my father, then will I make an account of mine own life.

Simple English

But I will make an account of my life. I make a shorter version of my father’s record on plates I have made with my own hands. After I finish the shorter version of my father’s record, then I will make an account of my own life.

Paraphrase

Instead, I'll tell my own story. I'm making a shorter version of my father's record on metal plates I made myself. After I finish summarizing his record, I'll write about my own life.

Notes

1:17

"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: In the first chapter of the Book of Mormon, Nephi says he will make an abridgment of his record. This echoes a portion of 2 Maccabees 2:19-23, who likewise talks about making an abridgment.

For other parallels, please see: 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 1:2, 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.