1 Nephi 16: 7

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also, my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife.

It doesn’t take too much imagination to connect the dots on which sons were most likely married to which daughter. Back in chapter 7, when Lehi’s sons returned to Jerusalem to get the daughters of Ishmael, there was a conflict on the return journey One of the daughters of Ishmael “did plead with [Nephi’s] brethren” (1 NE 7:19). This one probably married Nephi. Two of the daughters were with Laman and Lemuel in their rebellion (1 NE 7:6). I’m sure those two couples married each other. When it comes to a prophet, I’m sure that opposites don’t attract, as the saying goes.

I imagine this was a pretty happy time for the family. The parents got their adult children married, and the marriage is a time of celebration. In my mind, any differences there may have been between family members were set aside for this happy occasion.

1 Nephi 16:6

6 Now, all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.

I wonder how long Lehi’s family lived in the valley of Lemuel? Of the approximately eight years they spent in the wilderness, they were probably here for a few of those years.

1 Nephi 16:5

5 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness.

I think that Laman and Lemuel are not the villains they are made out to be. In fact, I think they are not too different from most people. They obviously struggle with pride and selfishness, but I think that it’s something they struggle with at this point in their lives. And even though they have done some pretty harsh things, they haven’t yet given in totally like they would later. So Nephi is thrilled when they repent. And it is apparently a sincere repentance because Nephi had such “great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness.” They were not yet to the condition Mormon experienced nearly 1000 years later, when the people’s sorrow was just because they couldn’t find happiness in sin, like they wanted to. The day of grace was not yet passed for Laman and Lemuel, as it was for the Nephites of Mormon’s time (see Mormon 2:11–15)

I have been pondering Laman and Lemuel since I started this journal. They are often painted with the broad brush of wickedness, but that has to be an oversimplification. 1 Nephi covers about ten years of history until the last couple of chapters when he is quoting Isaiah and preaching. Most of what we read concerning those ten years is the very significant events. This chapter is a good example of that. Later on I’ll write about the broken bow of Nephi. There were other trials during this time in the wilderness (see verse 20 for example), but only a few of these trials are described in any detail. So how did the members of this company behave outside of those extreme cases? My guess is that it wasn’t all that bad, since they relied upon the Liahona to guide them, and it only worked when they were obedient and heeded it’s instruction.

1 Nephi 16:4

4 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my brethren, with all diligence, to keep the commandments of the Lord.

Nephi is ever the optimist when it comes to his brothers. I think he is also quite aware of the obligation he has to cry repentance. Christ told Peter (and I think all of us, by extension) that, “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32). Nephi was definitely converted, and is under the obligation to strengthen his brethren. When Nephi recorded his own conversion (1 Nephi 2:16), the first thing he did in the next two verses is to talk to his brothers to help or attempt to convert them as well. He never stops trying. I think there is evidence that he got tired of dragging especially Laman and Lemuel along spiritually, such as in chapter 15, where it seems like his patience is running a bit thin (see verses 10–11. Also 1 Nephi 17:45–47), but he never quits trying to bring them to Christ until the end, when the Lord tells him to separate his people from their people. Even more important than whether Nephi lost patience, he loved his brethren, and it was sincere. He really wanted them to succeed.

1 Nephi 16:3

3 And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us.

This is just a simple and logical conclusion to the statement made in verse 2. Because the wicked take the truth to be hard and the righteous don’t, Nephi’s brothers wouldn’t take the truth hard if they were righteous. If they were to embrace or totally accept truth, they wouldn’t feel threatened by it.

The expression “walk uprightly before God,” or variations on it, is used fairly often in the scriptures throughout. The obvious meaning is to behave righteously in the sight of God. But to me it creates a word picture as well. To me it is the ability to carry yourself with confidence in the Lord’s presence. What would create that confidence more than righteousness, or obedience to the Lord’s commandments? If we are our own judges, as stated in Alma 41:7, then our conscience will either allow or not this confidence. If we have done our best to keep His commandments, and we have repented when we broke them, then we have no reason to be ashamed in God’s presence. We can walk uprightly, without hanging our heads in shame.

1 Nephi 16:2

2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

Nephi does a nice job here of keeping the focus on the problem rather than the people. Rather than agree that he had spoken hard things to his brethren, he says he has spoken hard things to the wicked. He’s careful to make a distinction, making the decision theirs as to whether it’s hard or not. They become their own judges, not Nephi. If they want to be among the wicked, then, yes, he has spoken hard things unto them. But if they would be numbered among the righteous, then they have been justified, and Nephi’s testimony would have been welcome. It’s clear that they have a choice of which camp they want to be associated with.

We all have this same opportunity. Truth justifies the righteous, but it condemns the wicked. The beauty of this is that we have not only the agency to decide which group we would be associated with, but we have a mechanism to warn us when we are making choices contrary to the Lord’s will. It’s called guilt. “…the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.” The word “guilty” can mean someone who deserves blame or punishment, but it also means a consciousness of guilt. I think that’s a distinction Nephi is making here. Looked at that way, this statement is a good sign for Laman and Lemuel. Moroni 7:16 says that, “the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil…” Nephi seems to be separating the wicked from the guilty, who are recognizing the difference between good and evil through the light of Christ. Otherwise, why would they take the truth to be so hard if they didn’t know what they were doing was wrong?

There’s a great example of this in Zeezrom. His story is recorded in Alma, starting in chapter 10. Zeezrom tries, unsuccessfully, to trip up Alma and Amulek. He does this willingly until when, in chapter 12, he is convinced of his guilt. So from point A to point B he was guilty, or wicked, to the same degree. He was just as guilty at point B as he was at point A. The difference between point A and point B, however, is that at point B, he feels guilty for his wickedness. At that point he took the truth to be hard, and it cut him to the very center. Before that guilty feeling, the truth had no such effect on him. The saying, “Ignorance is bliss,” definitely applies here. Once he became aware of his wickedness, he could move from point B to point C, which is repentance.

This is what Nephi sees in his brothers. They are at point B, where they can recognize their wickedness, feel guilt, and move on to repentance at point C.

Another interesting point to make on this is how it relates to the whole Armor of God, as suggested in Ephesians 6:11–18. Verse 14 says to stand, “having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.” Truth and righteousness guard our vital organs and make it so we can’t be cut to the very center. But the weapon that can cut to the very center is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” This is what cut Laman and Lemuel to the very center. If they had been armed with truth and righteousness they would not have taken the truth to be hard.

• Proverbs 15:10
• Jeremiah 6:10
• John 3:20 (19–20)
• Acts 7:54
• Ephesians 6:17 (11–18)
• 2 Nephi 1:26
• 2 Nephi 9:40
• 2 Nephi 28:28
• 2 Nephi 33:5
• Mosiah 13:7
• D&C 1:3
• D&C 12:2
• Moses 6:37

1 Nephi 16:1

1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear.

I wonder what kind of attitude Laman, Lemuel, and the others had when they told Nephi how they felt about his preaching. I imagine they were somewhat subdued after all that. I guess there are a couple of options here: they were either sincerely humbled that they had been rebellious, or they felt guilty that they had been caught and had to be called out by their younger brother. I tend to believe the former. Laman and Lemuel were proud, no question there, but I don’t think pride was a constant problem. It had its flare-ups, but if it was constant, and they were always trying to tie up or kill Nephi and Lehi, they would have had a much more difficult time succeeding in this exodus. The Liahona worked by faith, diligence, and obedience, and apparently everybody in the group had to express some level of faith for it to work (see verse 28), so if they were always a problem, they would not have had access to the Liahona as a regular guide. Probably pride and lack of faith were their biggest problems, which occasionally expressed itself in violence. In the end though, after Lehi died, I think it just consumed these rebellious brothers until Nephi had to finally break away.