Very early in Nephi’s record, he records the Lord telling him, “And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren” (1 Nephi 2:22). Tension from this promise grows throughout Nephi and his brothers’ relationships.

How is it possible the younger brother Nephi has any sustained power over his two oldest brothers? Was he really that large (1 Nephi 4:31)? Even if he were—or even with his father’s backing—it seems unlikely to sustain his advantage so long, particularly as it is clear his brothers could physically control him, once with a rod (1 Nephi 3:29) and by twice binding him (1 Nephi 7:16; 18:11).

It climaxes after the death of their father: “Yea, they did murmur against me, saying: Our younger brother thinks to rule over us; and we have had much trial because of him; wherefore, now let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted more because of his words. For behold, we will not have him to be our ruler; for it belongs unto us, who are the elder brethren, to rule over this people” (2 Nephi 5:3).

Knowledge of Metal?

What is the source of such power over his brothers? Could it be Nephi’s apparent skills in metal work? Evidence of Nephi’s skills with metal are plentiful in the record. Nephi recognizes the metals in Laban’s sword (1 Nephi 4:9); has expertise with the plates of brass (1 Nephi 4:24); he makes multiple sets of plates for his and his father’s records (1 Nephi 9:1-4); he recognizes the “fine brass” of the Liahona (1 Nephi 16:10); only he has a bow of “fine steel” (1 Nephi 16:18); he asks where to find ore to make tools, not how to make them (1 Nephi 17:9-11, 16). He keeps all the metal artifacts, and makes swords for his people (2 Nephi 5:12-14).

Nephi’s ability to work metal would be a serious advantage during his family’s journey if his brothers did not have the ability.

Later Leadership

Throughout the Book of Mormon there are unexpected aspects of Nephite leadership. For example, why are such young men appointed to be leaders of the Nephite army, Captain Moroni at “only twenty and five” (Alma 43:17) and Mormon at near “fifteen years of age” (Mormon 1:15; 2:1). (Is Mormon’s age a sign of severe distress in Nephite leadership)?

And how do we explain this passage about Mosiah II after the return of Limhi’s people?

“And now king Mosiah caused that all the people should be gathered together.

“Now there were not so many of the children of Nephi, or so many of those who were descendants of Nephi, as there were of the people of Zarahemla, who was a descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the wilderness.

“And there were not so many of the people of Nephi and of the people of Zarahemla as there were of the Lamanites; yea, they were not half so numerous.

“And now all the people of Nephi were assembled together, and also all the people of Zarahemla, and they were gathered together in two bodies. . . .

“And now all the people of Zarahemla were numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom had been conferred upon none but those who were descendants of Nephi” (Mosiah 25:1-4,13).

Why does the proportion of Lamanites to Nephites continue from the earliest days of Nephi, 2:1? Why are the Nephites and the people of Zarahemla still in two bodies a generation after his grandfather, Mosiah I, was “appointed to be their king” (Omni 1:19)?

Why was the kingdom only conferred on descendants of Nephi? How did his grandfather, leaving at least some of his people behind as he “fled,” become king over the combined group (Omni 1:12-13)? Why were only Mosiah’s sons considered eligible to replace him “by the voice of the people” (Mosiah 29:1-3)?

The leadership advantages were clearly acknowledged by non-Nephites for centuries. What might those advantages have been?

Appointed King

Why Nephi was taken with a passage of Isaiah he quoted to his older brothers after arrival in the new world? Nephi later asks his younger brother Jacob to speak on it (2 Nephi 6:1, 4, 6-7).

“Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

“And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me” (1 Nephi 21:22-23 cf. 2 Nephi 6:6-7).

Why are these verses so important to Nephi?

Between his quotation and Jacob’s sermon, another connection to Nephi being king is found as he is appointed king despite his reservation “that they should have no king” (2 Nephi 5:18)? 

Sorensen argues persuasively the Nephites were not alone in the new world from their earliest days.[1] Were the Nephites, like those in Jerusalem, scattered among “Gentiles” in the form of indigenous people? Did that help Nephi identify with Isaiah’s words?

Political Leadership

Is it possible Mosiah I followed the example of Nephi’s escape found in the records? Is it possible that Nephi, like Mosiah I with the people of Zarahemla, might have been appointed king among the new people he found after his escape? Is it possible that Nephi’s first quotation resonated because even in the Land of First Inheritance, the indigenous people appointed Nephi leader instead of his older brothers? What jealousy would that have engendered?

If metal working ability were the key to Nephi’s leadership advantage over his brothers throughout his life, it is possible to see the Nephites as a small band of highly skilled craftsman continually trying to keep others in their sphere of influence, constantly battling envy by the other groups?

There is certainly not enough to prove this from the record, but reading the Book of Mormon with such a perspective makes the record more understandable and the problems more real.

A much larger reading of the Book of Mormon is outlined in my recently released paper, Why Did Nephi Quote Isaiah Chapters 2–14? To Foreshadow Nephite History.

[1] Sorenson, John L. (1992) “When Lehi’s Party Arrived in the Land, Did They Find Others There?”, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 1, No. 1 , Article 2, pp. 14-17.