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Question

 

Gramps,

Did Nephi live to meet Jesus?

Jerry 

 

Answer

 

Dear Jerry,

I can see where your confusion comes from. The name of Nephi is the Book of Mormon version of John Smith. It seems like you can’t read many pages without seeing it pop up. One of the best guides to help you keep track is the approximate dates in the bottom corner of the page (if you’re reading a physical book) or at the end of the heading (if you’re reading online). The first Nephi comes on the scene about 600 years before Christ was born. He is the author of First and Second Nephi (some men live lives so remarkable they automatically get a sequel). His influence was such that subsequent kings were given the title of Nephi (Jacob 1:11), similar to the popularity of the influential name Caesar in Rome, and its variations around the world (czar, tsar, kaiser, etc).

Several generations later another Nephi comes on the scene (long after kings have been replaced by judges). Just to add to the confusion, this Nephi is the brother of someone named Lehi as opposed to the the first Nephi who was the son of someone named Lehi (different Lehi’s here). Looking at the timeline, it’s about 49-39 BC. Five and a half centuries have passed from 1 Nephi. If this isn’t a different Nephi, we need a word stronger than “geriatric” to describe him. His life is remarkable, but his story is told in Helaman (they are related). He makes a cameo in 3rd Nephi to pass the torch to his son (3 Nephi 1:2-3).

The son here is of course named Nephi (have you pulled all your hair out yet?). Looking at the timeline, it is between 1-4 AD. Jesus is but a child. Over the course of 3 Nephi (named for this third Nephi because it was written by and about this person named Nephi, and there happens to be two other books by the same name it is called the third (not because this is the third Nephi we’ve come across)). Some 30 years later when the resurrected Jesus visits the Nephites, it is this Nephi who is called to be his disciple (3 Nephi 19:4). He continues his ministry into the Nephite golden age described in 4 Nephi, and as part of his ministry he writes in this book (4 Nephi 1:19).

And now would you like some fun with Book of Mormon genealogy? The title of 3rd Nephi is The Book of Nephi the Son of Nephi, Who was the Son of Helaman. Now this Helaman was the son of another Helaman (Helaman 2:1). I’m sure you recognize this Helaman as one of the three sons of Alma the younger (Alma 31:7). We refer to Alma as “the younger” because as it says in the title of his book, he is “… Alma the Son of Alma“.

So the man Jesus chose to be His disciple in the Americas was Nephi, the son of Nephi, the son of Helaman, the son of Helaman, the son of Alma, the son of Alma.

Gramps

 

 

 

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