1 Nephi 19: 6

6 Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred. And now, if I do err, even did they err of old; not that I would excuse myself because of other men, but because of the weakness which is in me, according to the flesh, I would excuse myself.

The ancients like Nephi obviously had to have had something less permanent than plates to write on. They had things like animal skins primarily. Paper had definitely not been invented yet, and I don’t think that even papyrus was invented at the time of Nephi’s record. The point is that Nephi knew the sacred nature of his record made it so it needed to be much more permanent and durable than skins or even clay, which was also in use at the time. These records needed to last, so they were put onto these plates where they would be preserved until the latter days.

Nephi gives us another peek into his humanness as he apologizes for any mistakes he might have made in this record. The mistake he seems to be referring to here is any mistake in judgment as to what should be included or excluded in this record. That makes me think that the Lord dictated not everything in the record, but Nephi had the ability to decide what was sacred and what was not. And furthermore, that seems to be the pattern of prophets before his time as well. If Nephi is making a mistake in what he includes in this record, then the prophets older than him did as well. I presume this is because the types of things Nephi includes are consistent with previous scripture. Another way of looking at it is that because Nephi’s writings are so Christ-centered, the other prophets’ writings are also Christ-centered. In this regard, when Nephi talks about his weakness he is still wiser and “stronger” than others who are not receiving revelation from God (see 1 Corinthians 1:25).

• Mormon 8:17 (13–17)
• Ether 12:23 (23–28)

1 Nephi 19: 4–5

4 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a record upon the other plates, which gives an account, or which gives a greater account of the wars and contentions and destructions of my people. And this have I done, and commanded my people what they should do after I was gone; and that these plates should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until further commandments of the Lord.
5 And an account of my making these plates shall be given hereafter; and then, behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken; and this I do that the more sacred things may be kept for the knowledge of my people.

There are several places throughout the scriptures that make it clear how important record keeping is to the Lord. The fact that Nephi gives so much attention to not just keeping the record, but telling us how and why he is keeping and organizing his records, is evidence that this is an important thing to the Lord. It may be important to Nephi personally as well, but as he makes very clear, this is a record of his dealings with the Lord. Nearly everything Nephi records in this record are because of, or comes from his dealings with the Lord. So we must assume that the topic of record keeping is not an exception to that rule. Record keeping is important to the Lord.

1 Nephi 19: 3

3 And after I had made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord.

Although not as dramatic as, say, obtaining the brass plates from Laban, here is another example of the importance of obeying the Lord on faith, even if you don’t know why. If Nephi had ignored the commandment to make this smaller set of plates, the bad guys could have won when they took the 116 pages of manuscript for the Book of Mormon translation from Martin Harris. Nephi could have been wondering why the Lord wanted this redundancy in the records. After all, this was essentially the same information as in the larger plates of Nephi, just with a more spiritual emphasis. Nephi just knew that the Lord had His reasons, and that was good enough for him.

This kind of thing really makes Nephi real and human. Sometimes we are tempted to think of the Lord’s prophets as “all-knowing, and all-seeing,” as seers, having a pipeline straight to the Lord’s mind and will. But no, just like us, the Lord reveals to his prophets on a need-to-know basis. He could have easily shown Nephi the circumstances that in the latter days would make these small plates so important. Instead, He let Nephi act on, and exercise, his faith once again.

• Jacob 1:1 (1–4)
• D&C 10:38 (1–51)

1 Nephi 19: 2

2 And I knew not at the time when I made them that I should be commanded of the Lord to make these plates; wherefore, the record of my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness are engraven upon those first plates of which I have spoken; wherefore, the things which transpired before I made these plates are, of a truth, more particularly made mention upon the first plates.

Nephi wants to be as clear as possible about the records he has kept. His first record has become the official state record of the more day-to-day affairs of the kingdom. It goes into more detail about histories and genealogies. This record (the small plates) is the official record of the “church,” even though there doesn’t seem to be an official, organized church at the time Nephi is making his records. This might be compared to our Doctrine and Covenants in today’s canon of scriptures. These plates, at any rate, record the spiritual matters of the people, while the other plates record the more temporal matters of the kingdom.

It occurs to me that this is a model that I should follow more closely. I keep this journal of my research and thoughts about my study of the Book of Mormon, but I should be more diligent in my journal of more day-to-day, temporal matters.

• 1 Nephi 9:2 (1–5)

1 Nephi 19: 1

1 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the record of my people. And upon the plates which I made I did engraven the record of my father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of my father; and also many of mine own prophecies have I engraven upon them.

It would be interesting to see the fuller account of the Nephites. However, if we had the large plates of Nephi translated, I think that for many, the significant doctrine and testimony of Christ would probably get lost in the details of their history and society. We commonly note that the reason the Lord had these small plates made was in preparation to lose the 116 manuscript pages during translation. But another reason for the small plates could be so we, as readers, don’t get so bogged down with history that we forget the main purpose of the Book of Mormon: to testify of Christ.

1 Nephi Chapter 19 Overview

Nephi makes plates of ore and records the history of his people—The God of Israel will come six hundred years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem—Nephi tells of His sufferings and crucifixion—The Jews will be despised and scattered until the latter days, when they will return unto the Lord. About 588–570 B.C.

This chapter seems to mark a transition in Nephi’s record. He talks about the other plates, which hold more history than this set. It’s almost as if all the chapters leading up to this one have been by way or recapping what has gone on up to this point, to give context to what will be recorded hereafter. Up until now, any preaching has been directed to Laman and Lemuel. Now Nephi seems to shift his attention to future generations, including us. If we haven’t been paying attention up until now, it’s time for us to start, because everything from here on out is written for our benefit.

1 Nephi 18:25

25 And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.

Recent research has been leaning to the theory that when the Lehites came to the Americas they simply joined other races that were already here. Certainly, we know that at least one of the last of the Jaredites was still alive either in what is now North, Central, or South America, because he lived “for the space of nine moons” with the Mulekites, who left Jerusalem after Lehi did (Omni 1:15, 21). It is possible that when Ether described the complete destruction of his people he was referring to the main body of citizens. With that, it is also possible that there were settlements outside the main body. I bring this up because of the curious use of the word “ox” as a species the Lehites found in this new land. In our modern language this generally refers to a castrated bull. I doubt, however, that this is the sense the word is being used in this verse. There are several cud-chewing species that could be called “ox,” including other species besides cow. These would be animals that were domesticated for use in their farms, etc. So while they could have joined with another group of people, this is probably not evidence of that. Surely, however, even Laman had to have been happy with the rich resources they found in this new land.