Nephi
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- This article is about Nephi, the son of Lehi, in The Book of Mormon. For other uses, see Nephi (disambiguation).
In The Book of Mormon, Nephi, the son of Lehi, is a prophet and founder of the Nephite people. He is also the author of First and Second Nephi, the first two books of The Book of Mormon.
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[edit] Early life
Nephi was the fourth son of Lehi and his mother, Sariah. The names of his brothers who were born in Jerusalem, from oldest to youngest, were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam. Two additional brothers, Jacob and Joseph, were born in the wilderness. Nephi and his family lived in Jerusalem, circa *600 BC, during the reign of King Zedekiah, until Lehi was commanded to take his family and flee into the wilderness. This was due in part because the people of Jerusalem were angry and about to kill Lehi for his admonishments against their sins, prophesying the impending destruction of Jerusalem and captivity of the same city by armies of Babylon. (See 1st Nephi chapters 1 & 2)]
[edit] Exile
Nephi and his family left Jerusalem and traveled for three days into the wilderness before his father stopped, in a valley by a river, near the Red Sea. Lehi then sent Nephi and his sons back to Jeruselem twice; the first time to get the brass plates and the second to obtain wives from Ishmael. While in exile, Nephi and his family faced many hardships, such as all their bows breaking in some fashion, making it impossible to obtain food, and Nephi's elder brothers rebelling on multiple occasions.
Finally, Nephi built a ship under the direction of God, and crossed the sea to the Americas.
[edit] The Plates of Brass
A powerful man named Laban was in possession of the Plates of Brass; a record kept by the Jews which contained their laws, customs, history, and lineage. Nephi and his brothers tried three times to get the brass plates from Laban. First, they sent Laman, who asked Laban for the plates. Laban tried to kill Laman, accusing him of being a thief. Lamen fled back to his brothers and was extremely upset. The second time, Nephi convinced Laman, Lemuel and Sam to try to buy the plates with their abandoned wealth. Laman and Lemuel agreed, but were very angry about having to give their precious items away. Laban wanted the riches but wouldn't give up the plates. So again, they had to run for their lives and lose their wealth for nothing. All four brothers had to run and hide in a cave. In the cave, Laman and Lemuel started to beat their younger brothers severely. An angel appeared and stopped them, telling Lamen and Lemuel that, because of his rightousness, the Lord had made Nephi "a teacher and a ruler over them." Finally, Nephi returned to try one last time. However, before he got to the house of Laban, he found a druken man passed out in the street. He found that the man was none other than Laban himself. Nephi was then commanded by the Lord to kill Laban. At first, Nephi struggled with the idea, because the ten Commandments commanded that "Thou shalt not kill." However, the Spirit convinced him that it is better for one man to die than for an entire nation to dwindle in disbelief. Nephi followed through with the command and then dressed himself in Laban's armor. He returned to Laban's house and ordered Zoram, one of Laban's servants, to bring him the Plates of brass. He then led Zoram back to where his brothers were hiding. Laman, Lemuel and Sam, seeing Nephi disguised as Laban were afraid and turned to flee. Nephi had to call out to them, which caused Zoram to realize that Nephi was not his lord. He turned to try and flee, but Nephi stopped him. Nephi testified of God and convinced Zoram to leave with Nephi and his family.
The oldest known brass plates used for record keeping date from about 300ce.[citation needed]
[edit] Etymology of Nephi
The origin of the name Nephi is uncertain. The name "Nephi" is not a Hebrew name as it does not appear in the Hebrew Bible (also called The Tanakh, or The Old Testament).
Egyptologist Dr. John Gee theorizes that Nephi is a Hebrew form of the Egyptian name Nfr. In Phoenician and Aramaic inscriptions of Egyptian names containing nfr, the nfr element is rendered npy, and the closely related Hebrew language would presumably transcribe the name the same way. (see A Note on the Name Nephi).
While the name "Nephi" proper is not in biblical texts, some still propose a biblical root for the word. The biblical Nephilim, the the singular of which would be Nephil, is said to be a possible or at least related source. Also, in some translations of biblical apocrypha the word "Nephi" does appear. The text 2 Maccabees (1:36) reads "And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi." Other translations, however, use "Nephthar" or "Nephthai," rather than "Nephi." Given the context of the passage, most biblical scholars believe the passage refers to naphtha. That "many men call it Nephi" is presumed to be an account of the region's preferred pronounciation.
Finally, others still claim it is simply a variant of the Arabic and Hebrew words for prophet: "Nabi".
