Tag: 1 Nephi

1 Nephi 14 This was an unnatural chapter break. Chapter 14 clearly belongs together with chapter 13. I suspect they were broken simply because of how long a single chapter would have been. It would have been more natural to leave the first four verses of chapter 14 as the last 4 verses of chapter…

1 Nephi 13 I have often thought that the taking away of plain and precious parts of the gospel from the Bible was the work of scribes removing passages. I realize now that it was more likely the work or church leaders and committees in their selection of what writings to include in the collection—or…

1 Nephi 12 In some ways the twelve Nephite disciples are like a stake high counsel compared to the twelve apostles led by Peter, James, and John. There is every reason to believe that Christ organized a group of twelve among every people that he visited. The great and spacious building is the pride of…

1 Nephi 11 Nephi was not sure why he was being shown a virgin in the vision—that is why he said he did not know the meaning of all things. The angel explained her role so that Nephi would understand the significance of what he would next see. I never noticed before that it was…

1 Nephi 9 – 10 I wonder if Nephi ever had an idea of why the Lord required two records—even a reason other than the one we associate with the requirement based on hindsight. All of these things Lehi prophesied here were part of his vision of the tree of life but he told them…

1 Nephi 8 I wonder if the vision of the tree of life was withheld from Lehi until Ishmael’s family was with them. The image of the interaction between Lehi and his family might have connected with Ishmael and every future father in the group. I notice that Sariah, Sam, and Nephi are described as…

1 Nephi 7 I get the impression that Lehi and his family were not traveling while he was studying the brass plates and prophesying about his seed. I don’t know how long that took but it might have been a good time for them to grow together, get comfortable in wilderness conditions, and make preparations…

1 Nephi 5 – 6 I wonder how much of this Nephi remembers because of his own recollection, how much he remembers because his parents told him about it, and how much he is simply taking from the record made by Lehi. As a descendant of Joseph Lehi would have been in a distinct minority…

1 Nephi 4 If Laban was known to get drunk with the elders of the city then Laban would have been very accommodating when he heard someone speaking as if he were his master and making unusual requests. Even if Nephi did not sound exactly like Laban it could be attributed to inebriation.

1 Nephi 3 It is possible that Lehi had some scriptural record with him or among his possessions in his home but the Lord wanted them to have the record on the brass plates because that record would last for generations while a less durable record would wear out. I notice that Lehi does not…