Sunday, October 5, 2014

Lehi and his son Nephi Life Overviews

Life Overview of Lehi
born and lives in Jerusalem "all his days"
?? BC commanded to preach repentance to the Jews
600 BC flees Jerusalem with his family, leads and prepares family for time in the wilderness
592 BC reaches the land Bountiful
591 BC gets in the boat Nephi built with his brothers
589 BC arrives in the promised land
588 - 570 BC leads his family and prevents extreme hostility, after providing final teachings he dies and is buried (no specific year provided)

How old were Lehi and Sariah?
We don't have a lot of clues about Lehi's exact age. His age might have been a factor in assigning his sons to go back to Jerusalem, but it could have to do with the fact that people there wanted to kill him. Nine years into the story, both Lehi and Sariah were "stricken with years" and that their grey hairs were about to lie low in the dust (notice that they weren't stricken with grey hairs...). I'm sure eight years wandering in the wilderness aged them too, but they weren't young parents when they left. Without any clues that the birth of Jacob and Joseph were miraculous or that they were born to a different mother, Sariah was probably close to 40 about 592 BC. If Lehi lived as long as his son Nephi, he would be born 658 - 640BC, making him at least 48 and at most 66 when he was in the boat. Because of the phrases "stricken with years" and "grey hairs lying low" I think he was closer to 66 when the family got on the boat. Lehi doesn't participate in any hunting, nor in the boat building. However, his words and presence kept the family together when they landed in the new world.

Life Overview of Nephi son of Lehi
born in Jerusalem (best guess 615 BC)
600 BC leaves Jerusalem with his parents and siblings
592 BC reaches the land Bountiful and builds a boat
589 BC arrives in the promised land
588 BC begins making records on plates of metal
~570 BC separates from his brethren "not many days after the death of his father" with all who believed in the revelations of God. They live in the Land of Nephi. The activities mentioned:
- sow seed, reap in abundance, raise herds of animals
- make swords for defense, build buildings, work in wood and metals (2 Ne 5:15)
- build a temple
~560 BC already had wars and contentions with the Lamanites. Nephi didn't want to be king, but he is referred to as the king by his brother.
544 BC gives plates to Jacob, appoints the first (or next) king, dies.

How old was Nephi at death?
Nephi tells us he was exceedingly young when his family left Jerusalem. Alma was 25 as a young man, and Mormon was young at age 16. In general, Jews became of age to preach at 30 years, which seems consistent through the Book of Mormon. I would guess exceedingly young means a teenager in this context. Laman and Lemuel had to use a rod to beat him up, and he was able to keep a grown man from running. If Nephi was 15 when he left Jerusalem, he would be 71 years old at death, which is quite old for a soldier and king.







No comments:

Post a Comment