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Lesson 5: "Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It"

LDS Lesson Manual

Lesson 5: Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It: off-site _

1. The Lord guides the families of Lehi and Ishmael according to their faith and diligence. (1 Nephi 16)

Helpful Insights

• Timeline: The chapter begins with the family in the “Valley of Lemuel” (v 6). The journey from there to their final Old World location (Bountiful) should have taken about three months, yet a total of eight years will pass before they arrive in Bountiful (1 Nephi 17:4-5).
  • Brant Gardner, “Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon”, vol. 1, pp. 272.

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• Nephi and metalwork: Scholars have observed that Nephi, regardless of what his professional training was, had a clear fascination with metalwork. This is manifested twice in chapter 16 where he uses precious space on his plates to include adjectives describing metal objects. The first is when he describes the Liahona as being of “curious workmanship” (v 10), and the second is when he describes his own bow as being made of “fine steel” (v 18).
  • John A. Tvedtnes, The Most Correct Book: Insights from a Book of Mormon Scholar (Salt Lake City: Cornerstone Publishing, 1999), 76-98.

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• The Liahona: The Liahona was a type of compass which included one pointer that indicated the direction they should go, and another pointer whose purpose is unknown. Scholars have made educated observations about the nature of the Liahona and the meaning of the word “Liahona”.
  • “Lodestone and the Liahona” by Robert F. Smith
  • “The Design of the Liahona and the Purpose of the Second Spindle” by Robert L. Bunker
  • “Liahona: ‘The Direction of the Lord’: An Etymological Explanation” by Jonathan Curci

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Potential Criticisms and Faithful Information

Faith Affirmations

• Lehi’s Route through the Wilderness: The possible route that Lehi’s family took in the wilderness has received significant attention by LDS scholars. It is likely that Lehi’s family would have traveled south along the ancient Frankincense Trail, a well known (and relatively safe) route that would have brought them into contact with many inhabitants of Arabia. Nephi never mentions meeting other people along their journey, but they surely would have. Most scholars believe that Lehi’s family traveled south along this trail through Arabia, and then turned east after arriving at Nahom which is in modern day Yemen. They finally stopped and built their boat at “Bountiful” on the coast of Oman.
  • Aston and Aston, “Lehi’s Trail and Nahom Revisited” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon. [1]
  • “On the Trail with Journey of Faith” by S. Kent Brown in Journey of Faith: From Jerusalem to the Promised Land. [2]
  • Eugene England, “Through the Arabian Desert to a Bountiful Land: Could Joseph Smith Have Known the Way?” in Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins. [3]
  • Lynn M. Hilton and Hope Hilton, “Discovering Lehi: New Evidences of Lehi and Nephi in Arabia”, Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, 1996).
  • “Journey of Faith”, DVD, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute, [4]

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• The Naming of Places: As Lehi and family traveled through the wilderness they occasionally gave names to places, rivers, and valleys, sometimes naming them after members of their own family (ie. “the river Laman” of 1 Nephi 16:12). This practice is in keeping with ancient middle eastern custom, which Joseph Smith would likely not have known.
  • Eldin Ricks, Book of Mormon Commentary: Comprising the Complete Text of the First Book of Nephi with Explanatory Notes (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1953), 44.

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• Shazer: Hugh Nibley suggested that the name “Shajer” (v 13) means “trees” in Semitic languages, and is pronounced as “Shazher” by many Arabs. The location of Shazer has been suggested to be the wadi Agharr which lies along the Gaza arm of the Frankincense Trail.
  • Nibley, Hugh, “Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon”, ed. John W. Welch, 3rd ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1988), 101.
  • Potter and Wellington, “Lehi’s Trail: From the Valley of Lemuel to Nephi’s Harbor” in JOBMS 15/2. [5]

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• Nephi’s Broken Bow: After Nephi’s bow broke he crafted another one (1 Nephi 16: 18-23). Nephi also describes how he made a new arrow along with his new bow. Ancient arrows needed to be custom made to fit a specific bow (the arrows for his steel bow would not work with his wooden bow), a fact that Joseph Smith likely would not have known. Furthermore, the bow was ancient symbol of political power. Nephi’s bow broke, and his brother’s bows lost their spring, but when Nephi fashioned a new bow for himself his brothers soon accused Nephi of having political ambitions (1 Nephi 16:37-38). It is probably that Nephi’s original bow was not made of “steel” in the modern sense of the word, but was made of some other metal which was more malleable and possible to break.
  • William J. Hamblin, “Nephi’s Bows and Arrows” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon”. [6]
  • William J. Hamblin, “The Bow and Arrow in the Book of Mormon,” in Warfare in the Book of Mormon, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and William J. Hamblin (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book/Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1990) [7]

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• Nahom: In recent decades scholars have discovered archaeological remains of a place called “Nahom” in the Arabian desert that neatly corresponds to the path that Lehi and his family likely traveled. The word “Nahom” appears to have been the name of the place before Lehi and his family arrived there, and has the possible ancient meaning of “to console” or “to mourn”. This is appropriate because it is the place were Ishmael died and was buried.
  • Warren P. Aston and Michaela J. Aston, “Lehi’s Trail and Nahom Revisited”, from Reexploring the Book of Mormon, [8]
  • S. Kent Brown, “New Light: ‘The Place that was Called Nahom’: New Light from Ancient Yemen”. From Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/1, [9]
  • Warren P. Aston, “Newly Found Alters from Nahom”, From Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/2. [10]

2. Nephi demonstrates unwavering faith by fulfilling the Lord’s command to build a ship. (1 Nephi 17)

• Raw Meat: The image of Lehi’s family eating “raw meat” communicates great hardship to the modern reader who may imagine them eating freshly cut and bloody bits of meat. However, modern Arabs still eat spicy, raw, and partially dried meat “bastern”. Lehi’s family probably ate something similar to this on their journey.
  • Brant Gardner, “Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon”, vol. 1, pp. 293.

3. Laman and Lemuel bind Nephi, who shows courage and gratitude despite this trial. After they free him, he guides the ship to the promised land. (1 Nephi 18)