I know I posted this elsewhere, but that was to invite discussion on the scripture, but I'm placing it here as well to include it with the rest of my studies of the Book of Mormon.
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Since the days of my mission I have been fascinated by some of the little details of the Book of Mormon. One such detail is a tiny little scripture written by Nephi and what its significance must have meant:
"And my father dwelt in a tent."
The fact that he "dwelt in a tent" was mentioned three more times. Anyone ever notice this?
1 Ne. 9: 1
And all these things did my father see, and hear, and speak, as
he dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel, and also a great many more things, which cannot be written upon these plates.
1 Ne. 10: 16
And all these things, of which I have spoken, were done as my
father dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel.
1 Ne. 16: 6
Now, all these things were said and done as my
father dwelt in a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.
There were very limited resources in the mission home for studying the more profound details of the Book of Mormon, but the many old Ensign and Liahona magazines provided me with some insight and information about what the life of Lehi and his family must have been like.
I believe that Lehi was a very wealthy man, who had a house, also a land of inheritance and many riches and took nothing with him but his family, tents and provisions. (As a sidebar, what does this teach us about valuing worldly things? What will we be able to take with us when we leave this world behind?).
1 Ne. 2: 4
And it came to pass that he *departed into the wilderness.
And he left his house,
and the land of his inheritance,
and his gold,
and his silver,
and his precious things,
and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.
He must have traveled a lot and was very familiar with the trade routes of his area and he probably took Nephi, his youngest son on many journeys perhaps to trade, or visit with acquantances and maybe even business men of other territories. These are just my opinions.
I think, though, that the journey that they took out into the wilderness, even common trails and trade routes that must have been frequented by other traders and even raided by plunderers, bandits and robbers, might not have been such a new experience for Nephi, who emphasized that his father dwelt in a tent. He mentions this as a sidebar in the midst of describing family issues. Since pondering this scripture again I decided to do a little online searching to see if I was the only one who wondered about this tiny passage. I was surprised to see I'm not alone. I discovered that "the sheikh's tent is the center of everything". But in Lehi's case there might be more to it than that! Didn't the Israelites have a portable tabernacle? A tent? A temple? Where did Lehi marry his sons to the daughters of Ishmael? Where did Lehi and even Nephi commune with the Lord while in the wilderness? The tent was mentioned about fourteen times.
I found a couple of good websites where others have provided their insight, which I find very fascinating and confirm to me that there was much more to Lehi dwelling in a tent than meets the eye:
Blogger of Jared Blog Archive “And My Father Dwelt in a Tent”
My Father Dwelt in a Tent BoM Groupies