18 And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow, which was made of fine steel; and after I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.
I have heard it said that critics of the Book of Mormon point
to Nephi’s steel bow as being too modern for the time, an anachronism. There
is, however, evidence pointing to an early version of steel. Hugh Nibley says
in his book, Since Cumorah: The Book of
Mormon in the Modern World, that “one cannot be dogmatic in dating the
appearance of steel…in ancient times; and when a particularly fine combination
[of ingredients] was hit upon it would be kept secret in ‘individual workshops’
and passed on from father to son for many generations” (quoted in the Student
Manual for Religion 121–122, 1979, p. 43). He concludes that it is not
surprising to find evidence of high quality steel in early Europe and even
earlier further east. Beyond that, we only need to look at the footnote at the
bottom of the page for this verse to see a reference to 2 Samuel 22:35. This is
long before Nephi, during the reign of David, and it says, “He teacheth my
hands to war; so that a bow of steel
is broken in mine arms” (my emphasis). Apparently, not only did the ancients
have steel bows, but they could potentially break with enough stress.
- 2 Samuel 22:35
