As we dive into the First Book of Nephi, I wanted to address my approach to this work for the sake of full transparency.
One of the biggest hurdles I have faced as I have prepared to share my thoughts on the Book of Mormon, is coming up with its presentation. I want to be able to help you see the narrative through a different lens, but I also want to avoid taking things out of context or unintentionally misinterpreting the text.
To my first point, I have determined that the best course of action is to analyze the book using the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon. This is for two reasons.
1. It is the original presentation of the book, there are no verses, and the chapters are the original lengths. It is the exact formatting and style that initially converted thousands of saints.
2. I will not be referring to the Book as scripture. It is going to be presented as a historical fiction since this is the position that my study is taking. I recognize that some of my readers believe in the book as an ancient text, but that is simply not my perception. Again, I am trying to help change your perspective of the Book of Mormon and to help you understand it as a 19th century historical fiction. As such, I will not be quoting it like this,
Instead, I will be sharing the full page that I am addressing.
The Book of Mormon, 1830. Pg 5
After each image, I will then share my thoughts, give historical background, context or opinions and when I need to quote the page, I will do so. You can just scroll past the images if you want, as I will be quoting every single line of text throughout the post.
I will not be retyping the book myself. I have instead opted to use the text available on Wikisource with complete trust that it is fully accurate to the original 1830 edition.
The distinction may seem initially pointless, but I think the subtle difference is going to be very important for the intent of this project. You will be presented with each page of the Book of Mormon in a way that you likely haven't ever seen it, which may help chip away at the Mormon lens.
This now addresses my second challenge. Being that I do not want to discuss any of the book out of context. I will not be sharing something from Nephi and then immediately tying it into something in Alma. We will quite literally be reading the book, page by page, from beginning to end. The only time I will address another page is if we are referencing something we have already read up to that point. I will try and stick to this the absolute best that I can. With this approach, the discussion can get more complex as the book itself gains complexity.
I may occasionally show the text side by side with other sources as needed if there is a clear plagiarism or similitude to another text. Again, I do not want to retype pages upon pages of old books. My method here is to either find a transcription online or to ask ChatGPT version 4o to copy the text for me.
The method works pretty well and despite having to fix a few typos if the original image quality was poor, it saves me quite bit of time. I will of course always cite the books and provide a link so you can read them yourselves. I only use ChatGPT as a method of extracting text or for it's functionality as a search engine. I absolutely refuse to use it to actually write the content of this blog. All sources are personally read and discussed by myself.
Integrity is of the upmost importance to me. If I am ever off base or misrepresent any information. Please call me out in the comments or contact me personally so I can correct myself and maintain the integrity of this project.
With all that being said, let's begin on page 5, with Smith's introduction to the First Book of Nephi Chapter I
"An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four Sons, being called, (beginning at the eldest,) Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. The Lord warns Lehi to depart out of the land of Jerusalem, because he prophesieth unto the people concerning their iniquity; and they seek to destroy his life. He taketh three days journey into the wilderness with his family. Nephi taketh his brethren and returns to the land of Jerusalem after the record of the Jews. The account of their sufferings. They take the daughters of Ishmael to wife. They take their families and depart into the wilderness. Their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness. The course of their travels. They come to the large waters. Nephi's brethren rebelled against him. He confounded them, and buildeth a Ship. They call the place Bountiful. They cross the large waters into the promised land. This is according to the account of Nephi; or in other words, I Nephi wrote this record." (The Book of Mormon, pg 5)
This serves it's purpose in giving us a fantastic overview of the chapters to come. We can expect that each of the people identified in this introduction will play a role in the story and help shape the narrative. It is my theory that each of the characters we meet could be considered composite characters. Which means that they are representations of multiple people, combined together into a singular character or group of characters. We saw that this was a successful approach in my last post on re-contextualization.
Composite characters are an incredibly common literary tactic, as it's easier to tell a story if you already have outside inspirations to pull from, and it gives the audience a sense of familiarity. As we read through the First Book of Nephi, I will discuss each character, their circumstances, their visions and teachings and their potential inspirations. Most of which I have identified as being a composite of only three sources.
1. The life of Joseph Smith, including religious ideas and teachings he reasonably could have been exposed to.
2. Well known American history, as it was taught at the time.
3. The Bible and the Apocrypha.
The very first person that we will be focusing on is the prophet Nephi, who serves as the narrative voice that is telling us the story of his family.
"I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days -- nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days; yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians. And I know that the record which I make, to be true; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge." (The Book of Mormon, pg 5)
I spent far longer than I would like to admit on this first paragraph. I searched through countless books and articles, heavily focused on the phrase "goodly parents" and the name of Nephi himself. I knew that Nephi was the name of a place in the Second Book of Maccabees from the Apocrypha. Which was available to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in their personal Bible which they purchased in October 1828. It's interesting to note that Oliver Cowdery did not begin helping Joseph Smith with the Book of Mormon until April 1829. Other than these facts, I didn't really have a direction to go and set it aside for a while.
The Second Book of Maccabees 1:36
It was only upon the realization that Nephi was likely a composite character that I gave this chapter any kind of real attention. What if Nephi himself served as a representation of the gathering of Israel and that his name was simply inspired from this chapter? I revisited the book to try and understand it better.
We first notice that the opening salutations by the author of this book seem to carry many of the central messages that we will find as we continue through the Book of Nephi.
2 God be gracious unto you, and remember his covenant that he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, his faithful servants;
3 And give you all a heart to serve him, and to do his will, with a good courage and a willing mind;
4 And open your hearts in his law and commandments, and send you peace,
5 And hear your prayers, and be at one with you, and never forsake you in time of trouble.
6 And now we be here praying for you.
(2 Maccabees 1:2-6)
The chapter goes on to tell us a story of priests performing a sacrifice in a temple, where they sprinkled a thick liquid onto their sacrifice before burning it.
24 And the prayer was after this manner; O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, who art fearful and strong, and righteous, and merciful, and the only and gracious King:
25 The only giver of all things, the only just, almighty, and everlasting, thou that deliverest Israel from all trouble, and didst choose the fathers, and sanctify them:
26 Receive the sacrifice for thy whole people Israel, and preserve thine own portion, and sanctify it.
27 Gather those together that are scattered from us, de-liver them that serve among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that
thou art our God.
28 Punish them that oppress us, and with pride do us wrong.
29 Plant thy people again in thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.
(2 Maccabees 1:22-66)
After the sacrifice was made, the priests collected the remaining liquid.
36 And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, A cleansing: but many men call it Nephi.
(2 Maccabees 1:36)
Is it that far of a stretch to say that the name of Nephi himself was inspired by the name given to the liquid? It's entirely possible that it is just a coincidence, but we absolutely can not ignore that fact that much of the ideas we just read present themselves in the content of First Book of Nephi. The entire first Book of of Nephi is a mirror in purpose to these priests' prayer. That God is leading a tribe of Isreal away from their oppressors and guiding them to the promised land. We could almost call it the First Book of Cleansing, which could easily tie in to puritan beliefs surrounding God's hand in the establishment of America. We will need to continue reading to see this idea unveils itself. Again, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
So who in American history was credited as being the one who led colonizers to the Americas? Who exhibits the fearless trust in God and the unwavering devotion to God that Nephi himself is going to present in the following chapters? Who followed the will of God to the new world across the sea with a good courage and a willing mind? We turn to our history books to decide, as our answers can be found in one of the most notable accounts of American history of the time. The History of America. By William Robertson, 1777: Vol 1-2
The History of America, pg 56
"...Christopher Columbus, a subject of the republic of Genoa. Neither the time nor place of his birth are known with certainty; but he was descended of an honourable family, though reduced to indigence by various misfortunes. His ancestors having betaken themselves for subsistence to a seafaring life, Columbus discovered, in his early youth, the peculiar character and talents which mark out a man for that profession. His parents, instead of thwarting this original propensity of his mind, seem to have encouraged and confirmed it, by the education which they gave him. After acquiring some knowledge of the Latin tongue, the only language in which science was taught at that time..." (The History of America. Pg 56)
Sound familiar? Let's compare side by side with Nephi's self introduction.
Is it possible that Joseph Smith simply re-contextualized Columbus's travels in a Biblical context? I honestly believe this to be the case. . We are going to be coming back the The History of America multiple times as the story of Nephi progresses. And in doing so, the inspirations for the character Nephi will become more clear
Check Your Understanding:
Test what you picked up from this post.
1. Why does the author analyze the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon?
2. How will the Book of Mormon be treated in this project?
3. What is a composite character?
4. Which sources does the author believe primarily influenced Nephi?
5. What possible literary connection is suggested for the name “Nephi”?
6. Which historical figure is proposed as a major inspiration for Nephi?
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