Nephi - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

According to the Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...

, Nephi (icon) was the son of Lehi, a prophet

Prophet

In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

, founder of the Nephite

Nephite

According to the Book of Mormon, a Nephite is a member of one of the four main groups of settlers of the ancient Americas. The other three groups are the Lamanites, Jaredites and Mulekites. In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites were a group of people descended from or associated with Nephi, the...

people, and author of the first two books of the Book of Mormon, First

First Book of Nephi

The First Book of Nephi is the first book of the Book of Mormon. Its full title is The First Book of Nephi: His Reign and Ministry. The book is usually referred to as First Nephi and abbreviated as "1 Ne.". It is a first-person narrative, beginning around 600 BC, of a prophet named Nephi...

and Second Nephi

Second Book of Nephi

The Second Book of Nephi is the second book of the Book of Mormon. The book is usually referred to as Second Nephi, and is abbreviated "2 Ne." According to the book, it was written by the ancient prophet Nephi, who lived around 600 BC....

Early life

Nephi was the fourth of six sons of Lehi

Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet)

According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi was a prophet who lived in Jerusalem during the reign of king Zedekiah . Lehi was an Israelite of the Tribe of Manasseh, and father to Nephi, another prominent prophet in the Book of Mormon...

and Sariah

Sariah

According to the Book of Mormon, Sariah was the wife of Lehi, and the mother of Laman, Lemuel, Sam, Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph. She traveled with her husband from Jerusalem, into the wilderness, and eventually, across the ocean to the "promised land"...

. Nephi and his family lived in Jerusalem, circa 600 BC, during the reign of King Zedekiah

Zedekiah

Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...

, until Lehi was commanded by God to take his family and flee into the wilderness. Until their flight, Nephi's father had been prophesying the impending destruction and captivity of Jerusalem by the armies of Babylon.

Family tree

Nephi also mentions having sisters, though he does not mention their names or birth orders.

Exodus

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

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

. Lehi then sent Nephi and his sons back to Jerusalem twice; the first time to get the brass plates and the second to bring Ishmael's

Ishmael (Book of Mormon)

In the Book of Mormon, Ishmael1 is the righteous friend of the prophet Lehi in Jerusalem. When Lehi takes his family into the wilderness, Lehi brings Ishmael and his family too. The daughters of Ishmael marry the sons of Lehi, but the sons of Ishmael join Laman and Lemuel in their rebellion against...

family.

The Plates of Brass

A powerful man named Laban

Laban (Book of Mormon)

Laban was the name of a person in the first part of The Book of Mormon, a scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement. Although he only makes a brief appearance in the narrative, his brass plates would play an important role amongst the Nephites, who are the book's main protagonists.-Laban:In the...

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. Laman fled back to his brothers and was extremely upset. The second time, Nephi convinced Laman, Lemuel and Sam to try to buy the plates, using their abandoned wealth. Laban wanted the riches but wouldn't give up the plates, sending his servants to kill them. They ran for their lives and their wealth fell into Laban's possession. The four brothers hid in a cave. Laman and Lemuel started to beat their younger brothers severely. An angel appeared and stopped them, telling Laman and Lemuel that, because of his righteousness, the Lord had made Nephi "a teacher and a ruler over them." Finally, Nephi returned to try one last time. Before he got to the house of Laban, he found a drunken man passed out in the street. The man was Laban. Nephi was then commanded by the Lord to kill Laban. At first, Nephi struggled with the idea, because he had never before "shed the blood of man." The Spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

convinced him that it is better for "One man to perish than for an entire nation to dwindle and perish in unbelief." Nephi followed through with the command and then dressed himself in Laban's clothing and 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 called out to them. When Zoram saw Nephi's brothers, he turned to run, but Nephi stopped him. Nephi promised Zoram "that he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us," to which Zoram agreed.

Eight years in the wilderness and flight to the Promised Land

Nephi spent eight years in the wilderness, facing many hardships, including the breaking of his bow making it impossible to obtain food, and Nephi's elder brothers rebelling against him and his father Lehi on multiple occasions.

Finally, Nephi, with the help of the other men in the company, built a ship under the direction of God, and the group crossed the sea to the Americas, which they referred to as the Promised Land.

Life in the Promised Land, King of the Nephites, and death

Not long after arriving in the Americas, Lehi died, leaving the leadership of their colony in Nephi's hands. His brothers Laman and Lemuel

Laman and Lemuel

In the Book of Mormon, Laman and Lemuel are the two eldest sons of Lehi and the older brothers of Sam, Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph. According to the text, they lived around 600 BC. They were notable for their rebellion against Lehi and Nephi, becoming the primary antagonists of the First and Second...

rebelled shortly thereafter, and the colony split into two. Nephi's followers named themselves "Nephites", while the others were dubbed "Lamanites". Under Nephi's leadership the Nephite civilization prospered despite occasional war with the Lamanites. According to the Book of Mormon, Nephi was revered by his people. Nephi's death is supposedly attributed to old age. Upon his death, the charge of keeping the sacred records of the Book of Mormon was passed to his brother Jacob.

Teachings

Nephi is credited with several major contributions to Mormon doctrine and teachings. After his father received his Vision of the Tree of Life

First Book of Nephi

, Nephi received a similar vision and recorded it in more detail, including an interpretation of each element of the dream. The dream and Nephi's interpretation are quoted often by Latter Day Saints. Nephi also saw and recorded details of the birth, life, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ – the first such relation to occur in the text of the Book of Mormon. He also is thought to have received the same vision as John the Revelator

John the Revelator

John the Revelator is John of Patmos, the traditional author of the Book of Revelation. It can also refer to:*John the Revelator , a traditional American folk song*John the Revelator / Lilian, a 2006 single by Depeche Mode...

which is canonized in the Book of Revelation

Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...

.

Nephi quoted extensively from Isaiah

Isaiah

Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...

, between the books of First and Second Nephi fully 18 chapters of Isaiah are recorded almost verbatim as they appear in the King James version of the Bible.

One of the most often quoted Book of Mormon scriptures was penned by Nephi in the narrative of his exile:

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. (1 Nephi 3:7)

Nephi also recorded his thoughts on his own inadequacy as a disciple of Christ in what is regarded as some of the most beautiful prose in the Book of Mormon. Recorded in chapter four of Second Nephi

Second Book of Nephi

, it was dubbed the Psalm of Nephi. A portion of the passage is given below:

And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me. Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time. (2 Nephi 4:19–23)

Nephi's legacy

Nephi is regarded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a major figure in the Book of Mormon, as a prophet, political leader, and record keeper. A variety of individuals throughout the Book of Mormon were named after him, including all of the kings in the early Nephite civilization. Additionally, his people referred to themselves as "Nephites" – a name that would follow them through the entire 1000 year history given in the Book of Mormon.

Nephi is also used as a personal name amongst contemporary Latter-day Saints.

Etymology of Nephi

The origin of the name Nephi is uncertain, and disputed. As non-Mormon scholars view the Book of Mormon as a work of fiction, and do not recognize Nephi as a historical figure, the predominant scholarly view is that the name was selected or coined by Joseph Smith, Jr. Based on a non-religious or secular perspective, hypotheses for the name's origin include:

its appearance as a geographic name in the Apocrypha;
the shortening of two personal names Nephish and Nephishesim in the Authorized King James Version,
a reference to the nephilim
Nephilim
The Nephilim are the offspring of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4, or giants who inhabit Canaan in Numbers 13:33. A similar word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel 32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors....

( נְפִילִים ), who are the mythical half-immortal "giants" described in Genesis; The name means "fallen ones."
a reference to the work Nephiomaoth, which "was one of the magic names of God in early Christian Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...

"
or the term Nephes, which is a Kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

term for a ghost that wanders around sepulchers.

Religious Mormon scholars generally believe that the Book of Mormon is historical, and therefore have proposed etymologies consistent with that view. For example, Mormon

Mormon

The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...

scholar John Gee

John Gee

John Laurence Gee is a prominent Mormon apologist, and Egyptologist at Brigham Young University who is known for his writings in support of the Book of Abraham.-Background:...

theorizes that Nephi is a Hebrew form of the Egyptian

Egyptian language

Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...

name Nfr. In Phoenician and Aramaic

Aramaic language

Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...

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. Hugh Nibley has suggested that the name Nephi is related to the Egyptian Nehri. Some Mormon scholars have proposed that the name Nephi is related to the Hebrew word nephesh

Nephesh

The Bible portrays the concept of Soul most commonly using the Hebrew word nephesh and the Greek word psyche.The Greek Septuagint mostly uses psyche to translate nephesh...

(נֶפֶש), which literally means the "complete life of a being" though it is usually used in the sense of "living being" (breathing creature). Psyche

Psyche

- Psychology :* Psyche , a concept of intangible self* Psyche , a periodical on the study of consciousness* Soul in the Bible, or psyche , spirit or soul in philosophy and theology- Art :...

is the equivalent New Testament Greek word from which the English word soul is only translated. In the Greek Septuagint nephesh is mostly translated as psyche (ψυχή). Other Mormon scholars propose that the term is a variant of the Arabic and Hebrew words for prophet: "Nabi

Nabi

Nabi may refer to:* Prophets of Islam, humans who, in the Islamic faith, have been chosen as prophets by God**Nabi * Butterfly in the Korean language** Nabi , a 2001 South Korean film** The Korean language title of Mr...