First Nephi

First Nephi tells the story of his family's escape from Jerusalem prior to the exile to Babylon, struggle to survive in the wilderness[clarification needed], and building a ship and sailing to the "promised land", commonly interpreted by Mormons as the Americas.

[citation needed] The book is composed of two intermingled genres; one a historical narrative describing the events and conversations that occurred and the other a recounting of visions, sermons, poetry, and doctrinal discourses as shared by either Nephi or Lehi to members of the family.

Lehi and his family (wife Sariah, four sons Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi, and unnamed daughters[3][4]) leave Jerusalem and establish a camp in the wilderness.

[clarification needed] In the vision, Lehi sees a tree next to a river and eats its fruit, which makes him joyful.

Wishing to share the fruit with his family, he sees his wife, Sariah, and two sons, Nephi and Sam, who come and eat with him.

[clarification needed] Across the river, a "great and spacious building" is full of people who are making fun of those who ate the fruit, and subsequently, the fruit-eaters become lost.

Additionally, Nephi is shown past and future events, including the life of the Son of God[clarification needed] and his appearances in both the New and the Old World.

"the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, the troubles faced by latter-day Christianity, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the final gathering of Israel".

Laman and Lemuel conspire to kill Lehi and Nephi, but the voice of the Lord chastises them, and they repent.

[14] After eight years of wandering, they arrive at a coast and the voice of the Lord commands Nephi to build a ship.

Nephi recounts the Israelite's exodus and colonization of Canaan to Laman and Lemuel, and touches them with a divine shock as a sign of God's power.

He writes that God's covenants with Israel will eventually be restored, including to the descendants of his father Lehi.

[18] Brant Gardner, an LDS scholar of Mesoamerican ethnohistory with previous publications in FARMS, wrote in his commentary on the Book of Mormon that Nephi likely wrote first Nephi to fit the pattern of Exodus in the Old Testament, as a way to create a foundational narrative for his people.

[19] In his book The Testimony of Two Nations published with the University of Illinois Press, Michael Austin examines 1 Nephi 17:33–35 passage.

[24] After its publication, church leaders at the time recognized McConkie’s problematic claims and pushed for discontinuation of the book.

"[26] Many scholars have commented on the theological implications of Nephi reporting that the Holy Ghost told him to slay Laban.

Latter-day Saint critic Eugene England analyzed Laban as a scapegoat figure common in ancient times, but saw this as a flawed argument.

Jeffrey R. Holland and Swift argue that Nephi had to slay Laban in order to obey God, and that is the most important thing.

In the first edition of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 11:21 reads "behold the Lamb of God yea even the Eternal Father".