10 And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly lest the Lord should be angry with us, and smite us because of our iniquity, that we should be swallowed up in the depths of the sea; wherefore, I, Nephi, began to speak to them with much soberness; but behold they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us.
The patriarchal society the Jews had, and others of the time,
I’m sure, created problems for a few prophets in the scriptures. They always
wanted the inheritance to go to the eldest son, such as Laman. Often, when even
God challenges that line of inheritance, jealousy is the result. It happened to
Joseph, who was subsequently sold into slavery because of it. It happened to
David, who in a Cinderella-type scene, was finally presented to the prophet
Samuel, and eventually became king of Israel. And here it happens (again) to
Nephi. These older brothers of Nephi don’t want to give up their inherited
position of authority over the family, especially not to this younger brother,
who has already caused them so much trouble. The Lehites had given up or lost
most of the material possession part of their inheritance when they left
Jerusalem. The only part that was left was the authority to rule over the
family, and they wanted to hold onto that. This jealousy lasted for
generations, and was used as an excuse for war between Nephites and Lamanites
more than once. Nephi, for his part, does not and never has shrunk from his
duty to keep these brothers in line, even though he is the younger brother. So
here we go again. Is there no educating the wicked?
