Comments on 1 Nephi 17 v1-6 They continue on in their journey and despite considerable hardship the population of the group increases (v. 1). The blessings of the Lord were great upon them so that the women were physically strong and able to prosper in the journey despite giving birth and nursing babies (v. 2). Nephi sees this as evidence of divine providence bestowed upon them for keeping the commandments (v. 3). He states they traveled in the wilderness for eight years (v. 4) and then came to a particularly productive location which they name Bountiful (v. 5). And, notwithstanding their great trials they rejoice upon coming to the seashore and resting in this fertile spot (v. 6). Nephi's primary intent in this section is to emphasize that when the group keeps the commandments then they are blessed and prosper despite all of the hardship. Nephi distills several years into 6 verses here. I would assume the events of chapter 16 took place in about one year given the statement of women giving birth in v. 1 being the first reference of that kind and the marriages occurring in 16:7. And, there are desires to return to Jerusalem expressed in 16:35, so they couldn't have been all that far from it when that occurred. If so, then these six verses span about 7 years of time. What took them so long? We are not informed except according to Nephi in v. 6 they waded through so many afflictions they cannot all be written. It is probable that when children were born they paused for relatively long periods of time in more fertile areas to give the mothers time to recover and the babies some time to grow up. According to the Law of Moses a time of separation was required for new mothers for purification (thirty days for a male child and sixty for a female), so this probably would have required the party to halt for at least that period of time. If there were a considerable number of births among the party, as v. 1 suggests, then this would have halted the movements of the company considerably. But, 7 years seems an awfully long time. It is also very probable they continued to have a great deal of trouble with Laman and Lemuel, it just isn't documented. They had problems before and after, why any change in between? Note the blessings Nephi refers to in v. 1-3 are aimed at the women in the party, not the men. Nephi details a blanket blessing of providence upon the women. What about the men? Through this entire book the major problems the group suffers are a result of internal dissension on the parts of Laman and Lemuel. Is it not safest to conclude the pattern is persistent through these 7 years as well? Just as in ancient Israel's wandering in the wilderness, the wicked slowed the progress of the righteous. And so it was probably the case here as well, and what Nephi ambiguously refers to in v. 6 as "many afflictions and great difficulty" were in fact various incidents of rebellion by his brothers that were too mundane to require divine intervention. One would also assume the various religious feasts were observed as well even though they didn't gather to Jerusalem to observe them. That would shave off at least about a month of travel time per year as the three week long feasts were considered Sabbaths. v1 "women did bear children in the wilderness", given the difficult circumstances and the naturally high rate of infant mortality in ancient times the fact that the women bear children who survive is considered a great blessing. v2 "raw meat", while the meat was not cooked by fire according to v.12, there must have been some type of preparation as they were prohibited from eating blood according to the Law of Moses. Perhaps drying or salt curing. v3 Nephi restates 3:7, but casts it in a corporate context. v4 This verse informs us they did "sojourn" for the spade of 8 years. The English word "sojourn" appearing in the KJV OT usually means "to travel". However, in some cases it is used to refer to a period of indentured servitude, cf. Gen. 32:14, Exod. 12:40-49. Supporting this reading are passages such as v. 20 which say the women toiled, and the imagery of chains from 2 Ne. 1:13. Thus, one might infer from this that the party endured some term of servitude in the wilderness. The problem with this reading is the entire 8 year period of their time in the desert is lumped in under the term "sojourn", and we do have a detailed history of that time period which includes traveling and no servitude. This argues for the meaning of the word to be the more general usage of traveling as opposed to the more context specific usage of servitude. v7-16 After resting some considerable time in the place called Bountiful, Nephi is commanded to go up into a local mountain. He does so and calls upon the Lord (v. 1). The Lord responds and tells him to construct a ship and He will show him how to build it (v. 2). Nephi responds positively by asking the Lord where he should go to obtain ore to make tools with (v. 9), and the Lord tells him where to go (v. 10). Nephi then builds a hearth and bellows and makes a fire (v. 11). Nephi then explains in a parentheses (v. 12-15) why they had not previously made many fires (v. 12), the spiritual symbolism of this command (v. 13- 14), and the need for Nephi to exhort his brothers to be faithful to it (v. 15). And, so, from this hearth Nephi makes metal tools (v. 16). v12 Why they hadn't made much fire previously is a matter of speculation. The Lord apparently tells them not to and they will not need it to cook their food. The reason might be as simple as avoiding the hassle of finding firewood and packing it in an area where there was little or none, or the unsanitary and loathsome task of collecting and drying animal dung for fires. A more sensational reason, suggested by Nibley in _Lehi in the Desert_ might have been to avoid bringing attention to themselves in an area inhabited by hostile nomadic raiders and slave traders. The spiritual significance of them not being permitted to have a fire is given in v. 13-14. The Lord states He will be their light in the wilderness and He will guide them, thus they will not rely on physical light but on spiritual light. Does this mean the Lord just arbitrarily told them to not make fires to establish this spiritual point? No, I doubt that. I am sure there was some very good practical reason and the practicality of that was used to drive home a spiritual lesson. The Lord is entirely too practical for arbitrary things. It is just that the practicality escapes us sometimes, and so it seems arbitrary. One would assume the relatively few fires that were made were to offer sacrifices during festal holidays and for ritual purification purposes. v17-22 When Nephi's brothers see him preparing to build a ship they murmur against him (v. 17) because they don't believe he can do it or that he is inspired to do it, and they don't want to work (v. 18). When they do this Nephi gets very depressed about it, so much so that his brothers ridicule and rejoice over him saying "I told you so" (v. 19). They then go on to harangue him saying he is deluded like their father and their delusions have caused all of the rest of them great suffering and toil (v. 20) when they could have been living in comfort in their lands in Jerusalem (v. 21). And, the reason the rest of them got sucked into his delusions is because they would listen to him, unlike those at Jerusalem (v. 22). v17 Nephi's brothers start mocking him when they see him start building a ship. They don't start mocking when he is making tools though. And, Nephi doesn't request or obtain any direction from the Lord regarding tool making, only the location of ore. This suggests Nephi had previous experience as a smith, perhaps an apprenticeship or something to that effect. v22 Laman's argument is that Lehi is deluded, and the rest of the party got sucked into his delusions because they listened to him while everyone else at Jerusalem was too smart to listen to him. As evidence of this they offer the proof of the people at Jerusalem being righteous because they keep the Law of Moses, so his father is wrong and therefore deluded. The extremely short and selective memory of Laman is indicative of the rebellious nature of those such as him. They forget their own flaws quickly, and dismiss anything pointing to their own guilt, all the while looking for evidence of flaws in others who make them look bad. v23-55 Nephi rebuts Laman's rather weak attempt at logical argumentation by recounting numerous passages from the Law of Moses proving Israel was in fact quite rebellious and unrighteous. In refuting Laman's argument, Nephi also builds a case for his present endeavors by saying miraculous things have been done for Israel in the past, and the Lord has revealed things previously by revelation so why would He not continue to do so (v. 23-42)? Nephi then states present Israel at Jerusalem is no different from ancient Israel, in fact they are worse and have ripened for destruction (v. 43). Thus has the Lord commanded Lehi to leave Jerusalem, because the people there were going to murder him, even as they have tried to murder him (v. 44). Nephi continues to address his brothers in specific by giving considerable evidence they are hard-hearted and deliberately ignoring great evidence given by the Lord (v. 45- 46). Nephi closes his speech with a lament over the condition of his brothers (v. 47). His brothers are irate at his condemnation of them, and so they try to kill him. But, when they attempt to approach him to overpower him he warns them off because of the power of God that is in him (v. 48). He then commands them to stop murmuring against their father, and to start helping him build the ship as the Lord commanded (v. 49). For if God has commanded something then it should will be done, no matter how seemingly impossible (v. 50). And if God has done so many great miracles, then how is He cannot do something simple like give him instructions on how to build a ship (v. 51)? And Nephi went on in this manner for some time, so much that they could not confound them. And for days afterwards they feared to go anywhere near him (v. 52). And this is why they wouldn't go near him: because the Lord had Nephi shock them (v. 53-54). And thus by this miraculous display of force are his rebellious brothers once again humbled. They end up fearing Nephi so much after this they almost start worshiping him, but Nephi prevents it telling them to worship the Lord (v. 55). Copyright © 2001 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.