1 Nephi 2:15

[Hemidakota]

It was based on family records that Lehi wanted. What purpose would it serve Laban than noting something special about the plates.

1 Nephi 2:3 For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass.

Not only that, careful reading within chapter two, will reveal other things concerning Laban relationship to Lehi, since he didn't questioned who they were.

[skalenfehl]

check that scripture again, please. Must be a typo?

n/m, it's chapter 3, not 2. I'll read the chapter again. I have a lot of notes on it. But you are referring to chapter 3 for the careful reading, no?

[Hemidakota]

Your correct...chapter 3 vice 2

[skalenfehl]

So far what I have in my notes from my mission days are the following references:


1 Ne. 3: 3
3 For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass.

1 Ne. 3: 12
12 And he desired of Laban the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, which contained the genealogy of my father.

1 Ne. 5: 14, 16
14 And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.
• • •
16 And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records.

If I remember correctly Laban was an Elder of the church, also had commanded many men (hence Laman and Lemuel's concern about procuring the brass plates as a hard thing to do, beside the fact that they had to travel back about 180 miles), so he definitely was a prominent man, especially for possessing a sword of fine steel and pure gold hilt, which was hardly typical of the lesser quality swords of the time. Here's a couple articles that I've had bookmarked about the sword that gives further insight into his prominent character:

"The Workmanship Thereof Was Exceedingly Fine" - Maxwell Institute JBMS
Nephi's Jerusalem and Laban's Sword - Maxwell Institute JBMS

I definitely agree that Lehi and Laban were related, but just how close? Here is an excellent article that definitely puts things into perspective.

Meridian Magazine: Book of Mormon: How Nephi Became the Birthright Son

[tomk]

1 Ne. 5: 14, 16
14 And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.


"Not famine (food / water) ... but Famine for the word of God"


2 Ne. 1: 10

10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, [PLATES OF BRASS] and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.

Mosiah 1: 5

5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct.

[tomk]

I also want to make mention that because it was so difficult to engrave the characters -- the authors, and later on, Mormon, had to be very choosy in what went onto the plates.

In other words -- the content is very particular. None of it is by accident -- NONE of it. Even phrases like "And my father dwelt in a tent" have significance!!!

Every sentence should be studied and savored.

[Hemidakota]

Perhaps a short hand version was given. If I am correct, this was what Joseph Smith was stating.

I was talking to one that is notable in the field of BOM Archeology, he discussed how the Brother of Jared could record every single event from the Creation to the end of the Earth on 1000 pages if 5xx pages were third of plate’s total volume after translation. What he postulated that each character required the Urim & Thurman for translation since it will hold a period of time and not just a word or phrase.

[skalenfehl]

Originally Posted by tomk

1 Ne. 5: 14, 16
14 And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine.


"Not famine (food / water) ... but Famine for the word of God"

I beg to differ in this particular case. Joseph, who interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams pertaining to seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, was entrusted by the Pharaoh to oversee and manage Egypt's stores and distribution of grain, which made the Pharaoh wealthy.

The famine did strike as Joseph had prophesied and his brothers visited Egypt to buy grain but they didn't recognize Joseph, who then made them leave Simeon behind until they could bring Benjamin, who Jacob feared greatly to lose. But their food stores ran out and the famine worsened. They were starving so Jacob relented, trusting Judah's promise to keep Benjamin safe. They finally all reunited and Joseph brought Jacob and his family down to live near Joseph from that day forward somewhere in Goshen, so his family was preserved as was written in the verse you referred to above. There literally was a famine and I believe this was the context of the scripture.

[tomk]

Originally Posted by skalenfehl

I beg to differ in this particular case. Joseph, who interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams pertaining to seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, was entrusted by the Pharaoh to oversee and manage Egypt's stores and distribution of grain, which made the Pharaoh wealthy.

The famine did strike as Joseph had prophesied and his brothers visited Egypt to buy grain but they didn't recognize Joseph, who then made them leave Simeon behind until they could bring Benjamin, who Jacob feared greatly to lose. But their food stores ran out and the famine worsened. They were starving so Jacob relented, trusting Judah's promise to keep Benjamin safe. They finally all reunited and Joseph brought Jacob and his family down to live near Joseph from that day forward somewhere in Goshen, so his family was preserved as was written in the verse you referred to above. There literally was a famine and I believe this was the context of the scripture.

I wasn't aware I was offering an alternative explanation.

[skalenfehl]

You know, Hemi, when I was a boy I always wondered how Zoram could have mistaken Nephi for Laban, even in while Nephi was clad, every whit, in Laban's clothes. Based on this study about Laban being a close relative of Lehi's (Laban had the plates by birthright--maybe Lehi's older brother or a cousin?) I can see how Nephi, was able to fit into Laban's clothes (being large in stature--he must have still been quite young), he was able to imitate Laban's voice and easily assume Laban's identity. Zoram thought nothing of it. Nephi probably resembled Laban easily enough.