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THE BOOK OF MORMON [Added in 1852/deleted in 1981] THE FIRST BOOK OF NEPHI [“First” added in P ] HIS REIGN AND MINISTRY [Preface] [to the First Book of Nephi] [Note: As befitting his calling as a prophet, I would normally color Lehi’s name blue, but in order to distinguish him from his son Nephi, who is the record keeper (and a prophet), I have colored Lehi’s name orange.] An account of Lehi [Genealogy] G and [of] his wife Sariah 01 and [of] his four sons being called beginning at the eldest Laman [and] Lemuel [and] Sam and Nephi The Lord warns Lehi to depart *out of the land of Jerusalem [duality] 02 because he [Lehi] prophesieth unto the[covenant]people [the Jews] concerning their iniquity and [but] they [the covenant people--the Jews] seek to destroy his life 03 04 [Note: The last two lines above are an example of a type of Hebraism called “Irony.” Ironically, when the covenant people are warned that because of their “iniquity” they might be destroyed (which is the covenant penalty for “iniquity”), rather than repent they seek to “destroy” the messenger (Lehi).] He [Lehi] taketh three days' journey into the wilderness with his family Nephi taketh his brethren and [Nephi] returneth [ days’ journey] to the land of Jerusalem [P = returns] after the record of the Jews The account of their sufferings 05 They take the daughters of Ishmael aa to wife They take their families and [they] depart into the wilderness Their sufferings and [their]afflictions in the wilderness ______ [Heb. 01 – Repetition of possessive “his” in a list] [Heb. 04 – Irony] [Heb. 02 – Double & separated prepositions] [Heb. 05 – Plurals amplify the meaning] [Heb. 03 – The conjunction “and” can also mean “but”] [Par. aa – Circular repetition of “they” & “their”] 5 [1 Nephi: Preface] The course of their travels [in the wilderness] [duality] They come to the large waters [Note: There is a duality here. The word “course” implies physical travel, but it also implies spiritual travel. Also, “large waters” are symbolic of chaos and separation from a new promised land – much like Moses.] Nephi's brethren rebel against him [P = rebelleth] {AG} He [Nephi] confoundeth them [amazes and surprises them] And [he Nephi] buildeth a ship They call [the name of] the place Bountiful [only in 1840, 1981] They cross the large waters [in a ship] into the Promised land &c./and so forth [P / 1981] This is according to the account of Nephi >or in other words bb I Nephi wrote this record * * * [Note: The above heading was part of The First Book of Nephi. I have also inserted my own headings in First Nephi, but I have NOT enclosed them in brackets—rather I have centered, capitalized and italicized them.] [Note: As Nephi’s brethren (Laman and Lemuel) rebel against him, I will change the color of their names and references to them and their actions to brown, signifying sin and disobedience.] _______ [Par. bb – Clarification] [Note: According to Grant Hardy, from a literary perspective, Nephi will state that his intention in making this covenant record is to “show” unto his readers that “the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom He hath chosen because of their faith [His covenant children] to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Ne. 1:20). Nephi also states that he writes to “persuade” his “brethren” “to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God” (2 Ne. 25:23); and to “persuade” his “people” to “remember the Lord their Redeemer” (1 Ne. 19:18). One of the ways Nephi focuses on these goals is to shape his narrative in what Hardy calls “selective characterization,” in which only selected characters are used in order to better illustrate the ramifications of covenant obedience and disobedience. In other words, Nephi will reduce thirty years of struggle over covenant obedience and disobedience among some two dozen covenant-family-related people (to say nothing of the elimination in the narrative of the names of most everyone else) to a conflict between two groups—the disbelieving covenant-disobedient “Lamanites,” and the believing covenant-obedient “Nephites.” (Grant Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, p. 32-34.)] 6 [1 Nephi: Preface] [Note* In 1988, Wade Brown would structure the preceding Preface to First Nephi in a basic chiastic manner (see The God Inspired Language of the Book of Mormon, p. 1). This structuring was recently brought to my attention by Brent Noffz, who had further structured and colorized it. I have still further adapted this structuring to my style of alignment and coloring.] First Nephi Preface [A] An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons, being called beginning at the eldest) Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi [B] The Lord warns Lehi to depart out of the land of Jerusalem [the Promised Land] [C] because he prophesieth unto the people concerning their iniquity [D] and they [rebel and] seek to destroy his life [E] He taketh three days’ journey into the wilderness with his family [F] Nephi taketh his brethren and returneth to the land of Jerusalem after the record of the Jews [G] The account of their sufferings [F] They take the daughters of Ishmael to wife [upon returning from Jerusalem] [E] They take their families and depart into the wilderness Their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness The course of their travels They come to the large waters [D] Nephi’s brethren rebel against him [and seek to destroy his life] [C] He counfoundeth them and buildeth them a ship [contrary to their iniquitous disbelief] [B] They call the name of the place Bountiful They [depart and] cross the large waters into the Promised Land and so forth [A] This is according to the account of Nephi or in other words I Nephi wrote this record 7 [1 Nephi: Preface] 8 .

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