Chapter Five
Nephi Did Not Exist in Jerusalem at the Commencement of the First Year
of the Reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah
The self-proclaimed author of 1st Nephi in The Book of Mormon (BkM), a young man named Nephi, begins his story as a resident of Jerusalem at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. First Nephi 1:4 states “ . . . in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); . . .” Nephi's father was a Jerusalem resident all of his life, and the following verses will show that his son Nephi was as well. Second Nephi 1:4 records Lehi as having said, “ . . . had we remained in Jerusalem we should also have perished.” The ‘we’ of that verse included Nephi as a Jerusalem resident as a part of Lehi's family. Nephi verifies his Jerusalem residency when, speaking of his father’s gold, silver, and precious things left in his father’s house at their departure, he states “ . . . we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things.” His father Lehi’s house is declared to be in Jerusalem in 1st Nephi 1:7, and the entire family departed Lehi’s Jerusalem home in 1st Nephi 2:3-5.
Nephi is recorded as “ . . . exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, . . . ” (1st Nephi 2:16). His exact age is never specified, but he declared himself to be a man in 1st Nephi 4:31, which states “ . . . I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much strength of the Lord, . . .” Nephi's claim to be a strong young man of large stature is important information since it would have been necessary in order to accomplish the tasks recorded in 1st Nephi 4:7-19 following.
Having discovered drunken Laban sprawled upon the ground outside his house in Jerusalem, Nephi allegedly took Laban’s pure gold hilted sword in one hand, Laban’s hair in the other, and “ . . . I smote off his head with his own sword.” Afterwards Nephi took Laban’s garments, armor, and sword, (bloody garments one would suppose!). He then redressed himself before approaching Zoram, Laban’s servant of the treasury, with the intent to deceive Zoram while pretending to be Laban.
Wearing Laban’s garments, armor, and pure gold hilted sword would have been no small feat when one considers that Nephi records Laban to have been “ . . . a mighty man, . . . he can slay fifty; . . .” (1st Nephi 3:31). Nephi’s stature as a large man would have filled the garments, but what of his strength? A pure gold hilted sword must have been heavy when wielded with two hands, yet Nephi controlled it with a single hand. Nephi’s strength appears to have been sufficient to wield such a heavy instrument, but consider the strength necessary to accomplish the events that allegedly followed.
Clothed in Laban’s apparel and pretending to be Laban, Nephi records that he successfully petitioned Zoram to open the treasury and obtain some brass plates within. “And I also spake unto him that I should carry the engravings, which were upon the plates of brass, to my elder brethren, who were without the walls.” (1st Nephi 4:24). One has to wonder how heavy the plates of brass could have been and why Nephi did not force Zoram to carry them. Did he not have Laban’s armor and sword?
The question of why Nephi carried the plates of brass himself becomes even more curious when we discover how heavy they must have been. Written upon them were:
“ . . . the five books of Moses, . . . ” (1st Nephi 5:11)
“And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah,
king of Judah;
And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the
reign of Zedekiah; and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah.” (1st Nephi 5:12-13)
“ . . . a genealogy of his fathers; . . .” (Lehi’s fathers) (1st Nephi 5:14)
“ . . . the law was engraven upon the plates of brass.”
(1st Nephi 4:16)
Nephi records himself as the youngest of four brothers and although "exceedingly young", he declares himself to be a man (1st Nephi 4:31). Nephi’s stature and strength lead this writer to the conclusion that he could have been between fifteen and twenty-five years of age. He was allegedly a strong young Jewish man in his prime. Nephi would have been considered strong and apt (able) for war. No doubt he would have been called upon to defend the city should there have been a need. Interestingly, Jerusalem had just recently been attacked by the Babylonian armies, and the Bible records information about that event in 2nd Kings 24:10-17.
Biblical history records that the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, had appointed Zedekiah to be king of Judah after deporting 10,000 Jerusalem residents to Babylon and leaving only the poorest sort of people of the land in Jerusalem. This was the second time Nebuchadnezzar had attacked the city but not the last. This time he removed all the craftsmen and smiths (those who could make weapons), all of the wealthy residents (those who could purchase weapons or materials to make weapons), and all the strong and mighty men who were apt for war (those who could use or be taught to use weapons). Nebuchadnezzar attempted to end his problems with Jerusalem forever the second time he besieged the city. He cleared out everybody who could cause future problems. As a strong young man in his prime, Nephi would have been deported to Babylon with all the rest of the 10,000 captives just prior to Zedekiah's appointment (the beginning point of the Book of Mormon) if he had truly existed in Jerusalem as advertised. Nebuchadnezzar’s armies would have seen the potential for future problems in this young man because he could have been trained for war and could have posed an obstacle the next time Jerusalem might need to be confronted. The Bible record of 2nd Kings 24:16 below reveals that all such young men were deported to Babylon just prior to Zedekiah’s appointment (the beginning point of the BkM):
"10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and
the city was besieged.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did beseige it.
12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and
his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year
of his reign.
13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the
king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the
temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even
ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of
the people of the land.
15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and
his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all
that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed
his name to Zedekiah." (2nd Kings 24:10-17, King James Version Bible)
As a strong young man of great stature in his prime, Nephi would not have been in Jerusalem at the beginning of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. He would not have been left behind to cause future problems. First Nephi 1:4 cannot be true! It is evident that Nephi did not exist in Jerusalem when and where recorded. He could not have authored the books of 1st and 2nd Nephi in the BkM if he did not exist. The events declared in the BkM could not have happened as recorded if the characters about which they are written did not truly exist. Nephi was not the author. He was nothing more than a fictional character invented by the true author of the BkM. Who was Nephi's author by proxy?
Joseph Smith claimed to be the author and proprietor of the BkM on the title page of the 1830 printing of the BkM. An actual photograph of the original title page of the 1830 printing can be found at www.inephi.com/1.htm or in The Restored Church, a Mormon publication, on page forty of the twelfth edition printed in 1965 by the Deseret Book Company. It was not until later printings of the BkM that Joseph Smith actually declared himself to be the translator.
We have considered evidence from 2nd Kings in the Bible that proves Nephi could not have existed in Jerusalem when the author of the BkM claimed he had, but there is much more to be considered. Nephi would have grown up in Jerusalem during the time of the Prophet Jeremiah if his father Lehi had truly dwelt in Jerusalem 'all of his days'. We will consider in future chapters what the Prophet Jeremiah recorded about the residents of Jerusalem during the days of his prophecy and discover that the very first sentence of the BkM is not true. Ultimately it will be seen that the mass of evidence from the Bible will prove that Joseph Smith must have been telling the truth only in the first printing of the BkM when he claimed to be the author. Nephi cannot have written 1st and 2nd Nephi because they who have never existed cannot tell the truth! Let's take a closer look at the events surrounding that second attack by Nebuchadnezzar, and we will discover in chapter six that Nephi's father Lehi could not have existed in Jerusalem at the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah either. In fact, the whole family would have just been deported to Babylon at the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah had they truly existed there in the first place.
Pass your courser over each picture and read the dialog boxes
.(May not respond
with all servers!)
