The Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 4:1

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~600 BC

1830 Edition

And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands.

Influences

Judith 16:4 (KJV)
Assur came out of the mountains from the north, he came with ten thousands of his army, the multitude whereof stopped the torrents, and their horsemen have covered the hills.

Changes

And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands.?

Simple English

I, Nephi, spoke to my brothers and said: Let’s go back to Jerusalem. Let’s obey the Lord’s commands. He is stronger than all the earth. So why isn’t he stronger than Laban and his fifty soldiers? He’s stronger than thousands of them.

Paraphrase

I, Nephi, told my brothers: 'Let’s go back up to Jerusalem. We need to trust God and do what he asks. Think about it—God is stronger than the whole earth. So he’s definitely stronger than Laban and his fifty guards. He’s stronger than tens of thousands.'

Notes

4:1-2

"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: Both Nephi and Judith counseled their associates to be strong (see Judith 8:24). Both claimed that God's strength did not depend upon numbers (see Judith 9:11). Both Nephi and Judith use a similar expression, "he came with ten thousand" (Judith 16:4). 2 Maccabees, chapter 3, contains a story about "the treasury in Jerusalem" and Heliodorus' attempt to plunder its contents. Laban's treasury was also in Jerusalem. Both Nephi and Heliodorus had to travel to Jerusalem in their attempt to obtain access to the treasury (see 2 Maccabees 3:7-9).

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.