1 AND it came to pass that I, Nephi, returned from speaking with the Lord, [ So he went some place outside of the camp. Nephi has been in direct communication with God himself. ] to the tent of my father. [ And where is the first place that he goes? To his Father. Why? Because he knows that they have shared like experiences and he wants to learn more to compare what he has learned with his father. ]

2 And it came to pass that he [ The Lord. ] spake unto me, [ Nephi. ] , saying: Behold I [ Lehi. ] have dreamed a dream, in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem. [ This is the "what" that they are supposed to do. Why would the Lord have not commanded Lehi to return and do the work - why send his son's? See 1 Ne 2:1. Note what Nephi does not do here, He does not tell his Father "Well I too have just came from speaking with the Lord, and he did not say anything about the plates.". There is a reason why the Lord did not tell Nephi about the plates, because the Lord honors order. The Lord speaks to the prophet and gives him the direction of what needs to be done and then the Lord leaves it up to us as to how we are to apply that direction, and in doing so we are to receive our own direct revelation. Lehi did not tell Nephi how go and accomplish what the Lord needed him to do, No he told Lehi what needed to happen and then left Nephi to determine how to do it. It was the same when President Nelson received direction for the changes to the temple endowment presentation in 2020. He received the revelation and then left us to complete our various assignments. He did not give specific instruction in how to pull it all together with COVID restrictions. No, he left that up to individuals to receive the inspiration, the impressions and guidance needed to accomplish that to which we were asked to do by the Prophet of God. ]

3 For behold, Laban [ Was of Joseph and was well known of Jewish aristocracy, also a relative of Lehi. Laban must have been a prominent, well-known character in Jerusalem. They know who he is without any additional explanation, and when the sons do return to Jerusalem Lemuel finds him without any problems. Laban's association with the elders of the Jews (cf. 4:22) and apparent command over military forces (cf. v. 31, 4:31) place him high in the religion- political hierarchy. As Lehi refers to him as "Laban" when speaking to Nephi, and not "a man by the name of Laban" or "the chief of the city named Laban", this suggests Nephi already knows who he is. (1 Ne. 5:16) So we learn here that Lehi and Laban where both from Manesseh, because the genealogy from Laban was the same as it was for Lehi. Or Laban and Lehi were related. This is a good clue as to how Lehi knew that Laban had the genealogy in the first place. Scholars suggest that there was only about 6,000(25,000 at max) people living in Jerusalem at the time. So Laban and Lehi were part of a small group that were refugees from the Northern Kingdom living now in Jerusalem. ] hath the record of the Jews and also a genealogy of my forefathers, [ So they contained the genealogy of Lehi. So these records would have gone back to at least 927. They most likely would have contained the history of Oded the Prophet(around 930 BC Oded was prophesying in the Northern kingdom( 2 Chron. 15:2,8)) and King Asa. Which would provide the details on how the Josephites(since we know that Lehi was a descendant of Joseph (1 Ne. 5:14 and Amulek will later further clarify that they were descendants of Manasseh (Alma 10:3))) left the Northern Kingdom. So what does the prophecies of Oded have to do with the brass plates? Well at the time that these prophecies where presented to King Asa in Judah the plates of brass would have still been in the Northern Kingdom under the reign of King Baash, who took over the throne from King Nabab(1 Kings 15:28). These were very wicked kings and were trying to destroy everything that was righteous, so it was at this time that the righteous refugees from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon migrated south to the kingdom of Judah were the king(Asa) was of a more righteous nature.(2 Chron. 15:9) ] , and they are engraven upon plates of brass. [ Brass today as we know it consists of 2 parts copper and 1 part Zinc and was not known anciently - so it could have been copper or bronze which could have been worked or made flexible - Duet 8:9 speaks of digging brass which most believe to be copper.The KJV translates the Hebrew "nechoshet" to "brass" when a more accurate translation is "copper"

These plates must have been very valuable indeed. Hence their being placed in a treasury and Laman and Lemuel complaining about it being a "hard thing". Their placement in his treasury and not in a synagogue, and the subsequent attempt to purchase them from Laban suggests they are his personal property. The passage in 5:16 indicates the plates were in fact older than Laban himself, and he was simply next in line to possess them and pass them on.

However, if the plates are Laban's personal property then it seems odd they would be kept up to date, even containing some of the contemporary Jeremiah's prophecies. If the elders of the Jews were combined against Jeremiah, and Laban was in league with the elders of the Jews, then it seems unlikely Laban would be favorably disposed towards Jeremiah. Now, we do know the king at that time was Zedekiah, and while he had little political will to stand up to the elders of the Jews, he did have considerable respect for Jeremiah and saved his life on occasion and subsequently protected him from them. so, perhaps Laban had some respect for Zedekiah's opinions, and the relationship between Laban and the elders of the Jews was more out of necessity and convenience than common religious views.

Another possibility is that Zoram, who clearly had considerable access to the plates (cf. 4:20), little respect towards his master Laban (cf. 4:33), considerable interest in religious matters (cf. 4:22, 4:26-27), and had strong religious convictions himself (cf. 4:34-35), kept the records up to date himself by scribing the various letters penned and distributed by Baruch for Jeremiah (cf. Jer. 36:4). ]

4 Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, [ Why does the Lord send all of the brothers - Why not just Nephi since he does all of the work any way? It appears as they are very familiar with Laban and who he is. ] and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness.

5 And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; [ We can assume that Lehi has already asked Lamam and Lemuel because he is telling Nephi how they feel about it when he first tells Nephi. ] but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord.

6 Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord, because thou hast not murmured. [ Meaning: supported; aided; supplied with advantages; eased; spared. Regarded with kindness; as a favored friend. Lehi suggests to Nephi that the Lord will bless him in doing this even more if he will do it with the right attitude. ]

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, [ This was not just a casual comment by Nephi; but rather the outward expression of his committment to the Lord. He had taken up the cross go to 3 Ne 11:11. How often do we say that - and how well do we keep it? Nephi said “I will go and do,” I believe doubting nothing, and yet it took him three attempts to get the plates. That can be perplexing without a closer look through a spiritual lens. There were things learned, faith tested and strengthened, chance is given to Laban, Laman and Lemuel— rich and meaningful purposes even in the intermediate “failures.” His promises are sure, the Lord fulfills all of them. He perfectly hears every prayer and gives every good thing to them that ask. He weaves the perfect tapestry. Don’t give up, don’t falter in what I call the inevitable “impossible moment.” That is the the hardest but most important moment! It’s part of the pattern though, part of the lesson plan- expect it! Doubt not, fear not. Amazing blessings are ahead for those who trust Him. ] for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

8 And it came to pass that when my father had heard these words he was exceedingly glad, for he knew that I had been blessed of the Lord. [ So had Nephi not told him of his experience with the Lord from Verse 1? Did he go to his fathers tent and his father started the conversation telling him of his dream that Nephi and his brothers needed to return and get the plates, and so there was never any discussion of what Nephi had experienced? ]

9 And I, Nephi, and my brethren took our journey in the wilderness, with our tents, to go up to the land of Jerusalem.

10 And it came to pass that when we had gone up to the land of Jerusalem, I and my brethren did consult one with another. [ After all they needed some plan to get the plates away from Laban. ]

11 And we cast lots—w [ They cast lots because they knew upfront that the meeting would not be a pleasant meeting with Laban. Suggesting to me that they had some previous experience with him. ] who of us should go in unto the house of Laban. And it came to pass that the lot fell upon Laman; and Laman went in unto the house of Laban, [ It does not say here that Laban was a bad guy, so I think that we need to be careful aas we paint the picture of Laban. He will only try to keep the plates safe as he see's fit which by no means makes him a bad guy, just one doing his job. ] and he [ Laman ] talked with him as he sat in his house. [ May I suggest that it would not have been possible for just anyone to walk up to Labans door(a local dignitary) and then sit with him, let a lone a young man unless there was some kind of previous relationship. It appears as if their relationship is not distant either. So it could be the Laban is actually Lehi's brother, and Laman's uncle. How does Laban respond right away? He flys off the handle, which gives a little thought to the idea that just maybe Laban has these records and has obtained them through some unscrupulous means. Which we get further credence to some of these thoughts with the idea that after Nephi slayed Laban he must have sounded enough like him at first to fool his servant. Furthermore if such were the case then Lehi was only retrieving his own families records, and maybe he was the one who was supposed to have them all along and they were taken from him by Laban through some unscrupulous means. The brass plates probably contained at least some references to the reign of the Israelite judges, but it couldn't have been much, as Israel had moved from being ruled by judges to being ruled by a monarch but the Nephites went in reverse. They went from being ruled by a monarch under King Mosiah's dynasty to being ruled by judges. Had they read the history of the corrupt priests of Eli, they may have declined to be ruled judges. Though monarchs didn't fare much better, so that argument can go both ways.) If the brass plates covered this period, it was almost certain not in the way the Deuteronomists cover it in our Old Testament. Obviously, Isaiah is prominent on the brass plates, but not on the history portion. ]

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

13 And behold, it came to pass that Laban was angry, [ So what is the cause of the sudden hostility? It seems strange that he would become hostile over a request, unless there was some point of contention. Did Lehi have some valid claim on the records that we are not told about? Is that why Laban was so defensive? If not why was he so defensive? Think about it another way maybe. Here we have Laban being told in essence "Look dude, you and the rest of the people here in Jerusalem have wandered so far off of the reservation that God is going to take this record from you, as well all of the promised blessings, you will no longer be his chosen people, you are being replaced". In essence that is what he would have heard, that the record of his heritage, as well as all of the promised blessings associated with that we want to take from you. This is more than just life, this is a sacred record that has been passed down from Joseph to you, so you darn well know he is ready to fight. Kind of over my dead body - which God can make happen - haha. ] and thrust him out from his presence; and he would not that he should have the records. Wherefore, he said unto him: Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee.

14 But Laman fled out of his presence, and told the things which Laban had done, unto us. And we began to be exceedingly sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness.

15 But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us. [ Where does Nephi get all of this courage and determination? 1 Ne 2:16 He has seen a vision as well at this point, he understands the importance of the plates and probably understands that there will be no journey to the land of promise without thee plates and keeping the Lord's command. See 1 Ne 2:20 ]

16 Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; therefore let us go down to the land of our father’s inheritance, for behold he left gold and silver, and all manner of riches. And all this he hath done because of the commandments of the Lord.

17 For he knew that Jerusalem must be destroyed, because of the wickedness of the people.

18 For behold, they have rejected the words of the prophets. Wherefore, if my father should dwell in the land after he [ "1830 edition "after that he" How could Joseph Smith have known? Biblical Hebrew begins subordinate clauses with prepositions plus a word that translates as that, such as in Ezekiel 40:1: "after that the city was smitten." Such a use of that in English is awkward and therefore rare. Yet it appears frequently in the Book of Mormon, another evidence of Hebrew influence. It was even more frequent in the 1830 edition, but many of the thats were dropped from later editions to read more smoothly.(The Maxwell Institute - Hebrew Background of the Book Of Mormon; John A. Tvedtnes) ] hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold, he would also perish. Wherefore, it must needs be that he flee out of the land.

19 And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers;[ How to write in egyptian, how to read - What happens to a society without written records? as well as documentation of what has happened before. Later we will see that society without written records becomes corrupt and lacks communication, and cooperation and tend to develop into hunter gathers very quickly. ]

20 And also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets, which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God, since the world began, [ remember the first prophets actually knew Adam and Eve and heard from them first hand, and then wrote from what they had heard first hand. Lamech (the father of Noah), Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalaleel, Cainan, Enos, Seth, and Adam, were all living at the same time, and beyond all controversy were all preachers of righteousness - Lectures On Faith Lecture 2 ] even down unto this present time.

21 And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren, that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.

22 And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things. [ interesting to note that after 2 - 4 months of time their wealth was still there. In addition; they figured that it would be there - not a good bet today, unless your home is protected with security. Wealthy? This would have been quite the sales job that Nephi did on his brothers here as the wealth was of importance to them. So they would not have wanted to just give it away. ]

23 And after we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban.

24 And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, [ How could Joseph Smith have known? When English shows a possessive or descriptive relationship between two nouns, it usually puts the possessive or descriptive noun first: the king's house or wood house. Hebrew, however, uses the opposite order: house the king (which would usually be translated house of the king) or house wood (house of wood). If the Hebrew word order is kept in the English translation, the word of must be added, even though it does not exist in the Hebrew. One of a large number of what appear to be translations from the Hebrew preserving the Hebrew word order: "plates of brass" instead of brass plates (The Maxwell Institute - Hebrew Background of the Book Of Mormon - http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=72&chapid=862) ] for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things.

25 And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, [ Lehi was rich by the standards - yet we don't hear anything but gratitude to the Lord from Lehi - we don't hear him complain about all that he has given up. Further evidence that he had seen the Lord and really did know without question what would happen if he stayed and all the money in the world would be of no use. ] he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, [ These do not appear to be domestic servants or overseers of commercial affairs since they follow orders to kill the sons of Lehi. some have argued that in military contexts, a naʿar was actually an elite warrior and highly trusted advisor or officer under a military commander.(John MacDonald, “The Status and Role of the Naʿar in Israelite society,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 35, no. 3 (1976): 147–170.) Schaeffer-Bullock proposes that these are the servants of Laban—including Zoram, who as keeper of the treasury keys may have been Laban’s chief naʿar—who would follow his orders to execute the sons of Lehi.(Schaeffer-Bullock, “Rediscovering Zoram.”) ] that he might obtain our property.

26 And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, and we were obliged to leave behind our property, and it fell into the hands of Laban.

27 And it came to pass that we fled into the wilderness, and the servants of Laban did not overtake us, and we hid ourselves in the cavity of a rock. [ The area around Jerusalem is peppered with caves. How would Joseph Smith have known that? Bro Reynolds suggests that they ran as much as 16 miles to the cave of Abraham near Hebron ]

28 And it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; [ What is the source of his anger? Well they have now given away his inheritance, to which as the older brother he was entitled to two times the common share, or a double portion. So you can see why he would resent Nephi and his father as well, given that he does not have any other knowledge (spiritual confirmation) of the purpose for doing it. ] ; and also was Lemuel, for he hearkened [ Hebrew "Shema" to "listened" and "obeyed". ] unto the words of Laman. Wherefore Laman and Lemuel did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod. [ They were most likely so frustrated that they lost their tempers. ]

29 And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an angel of the Lord [ Why do angels visit men? see Moroni 7:30-31 ] came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands. [ Note that while the angel is there they have no doubt about his presence; most likely they can feel his power. But as quickly as he leaves they are left to doubt what they felt and saw. The spirit or power of the angel is no longer present. ]

30 And after the angel had spoken unto us, he departed.

31 And after the angel had departed, [ The angel must have come with power and glory as Laman and Lemuel seem to acknowledge him and do not talk back or challenge him at least while he is there. So the angel must have come with more power than just as a man. ] Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? [ If we do not make an effort to know the Lord then how can we know the power of the Lord? How can we have trust in something that we do not know is there? We can't and wouldn't Do we ever sell the Lord short because we cannot see any earthly way that something is going to get done? ] Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us? [ Nibley long ago pointed out that fifty is a standard military unit in the ancient Near East. (See Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, 97–98; Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, 126–127.) Of particular note is the frequent reference to garrisons of fifty in the Amarna letters. (See EA 132, 139, 238, 289, 295 in Anson F. Rainey, trans., The El-Amarna Correspondence: A New Edition of the Cuneiform Letters from the Site of El-Amarna based on Collations of all Extent Tablets, 2 vols., ed. William Schniedewind and Zipora Cochavi-Rainey (Boston, MA: Brill, 2015), or William L. Moran, ed. and trans., The Amarna Letters (Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 1992).) Nadav Na' aman, an expert on the Amarna documents, explained, "A cadre of 50 soldiers, or multiples thereof, was the standard unit of Egyptian troops according to the Amarna letters... Fifty was also the standard unit for manning a garrison."(Nadav Naʾaman, “The Contribution of the Amarna Letters to the Debate on Jerusalem’s Political Position in the Tenth Century BCE,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 304 (1996): 25n2. See also Moran, Amarna Letters, 338n6: “50 is a common number for manning a garrison.”) Fifty is also the standard military unit in Neo-Assyrian (ca. 911-612 BC) and Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626- 539 BC) sources.(See Joseph Offord, “Archaeological Notes on Jewish Antiquities,” Palestinian Exploration Fund Quarterly 48, no. 3 (1916): 148; A. Leo Oppenheim, Letters from Mesopotamia: Official, Business, and Private Letters on Clay Tablets from Two Millennia (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1967), 177.) Laban's fifty thus probably represents the garrison directly under him as commander of the fortress, according to Schaeffer-Bullock.(Schaeffer-Bullock, “Rediscovering Zoram.”) Nephi responds in 1 Ne 4:1 Laman and Lemuel are using "kal v'khomer", a classic Semitic argumentation form. It follows the pattern: If X is true of Y, then how much more true is X of Z? Naturally, this assumes Z is of greater weight than Y. This type of argument is common in the OT, cf. Deut. 31:27, 1 Sam. 23:3, Esther 9:12, Prov. 11:31, Jer. 12:5, Ezek. 15:5. It is also found in the NT as well, cf. Matt. 6:26, John 7:23, Rom. 5:8-9, Heb. 2:2-3. Additional BofM examples are 1 Ne. 7:8-12, Mosiah 4:22, Alma 32:18-19, 3Ne. 13:26, 3 Ne. 14:11. Laman and Lemuel are not arguing the Lord doesn't have the power to slay Laban, they are saying they themselves do not have power to slay Laban. In other words, they do not see the Lord intervening in the situation to help them get the job done. Hence, Nephi's reply in 4:1. ]