Nephi (son of Helaman)

Why don't we talk about this Nephi more?

Here's what I could think of:

1. His story is in the middle of someone else's book.

The book of Helaman is not about the Helaman who lead the band of 2,000 stripling warriors, nor of the Helaman who fights in any wars. In the book of Helaman son of Helaman (who dies in chapter 3) we find the story of his son Nephi (chapters 5 - 11 and 16), and Samuel the Lamanite (chapters 13-15).  If Nephi or Samuel had their own books I'm sure they would be more frequently remembered and talked about.

2. He gets "lost in the crowd" because of his name.

Just so we are all clear, this post is about Nephi the son of Helaman the son of Helaman the son of Alma the son of Alma. Not Nephi son of Lehi, nor about this man's son or grandson, who also bear the name Nephi.

Paternal prophetic lineage:
Alma the Elder
Alma the Younger (parallels between Alma the Younger and his great grandson Nephi)
Helaman the military commander
Helaman the chief judge
Nephi the great Nephite missionary <-- this is who we are talking about.
Nephi one of the disciples of Christ
Nephi the son of Nephi - one of the disciples of Christ
Check out a complete list of the Book of Mormon record keepers as well.

3. We don't know enough of his life to make him a "complex" character.

Because we only have 532 pages of text covering entire civilizations from the time of the tower of Babel to the Nephite Armageddon, not everyone's moral dilemmas and foibles can be elucidated. Now, we do know a lot about his life compared to what we know of his life compared to his father, his son, and his grandson.  What I mean when I say he is not a "complex character" is that we don't have a record of a dilemma or defining moment where Nephi son of Helaman chooses faith where he previously struggled. While Nephi son of Lehi has several dilemmas (e.g. acquiring the brass plates, the broken bow episode), Nephi son of Helaman in the Book of Mormon never wavers in his devotion to preaching the gospel. In today's postmodern society we create and relish in complexity, and Nephi son of Helaman's story falls by the wayside. Hopefully this page will cast light on a few neglected aspects of his stories.

Reasons to remember Nephi son of Helaman for your next lesson or talk:

If you feel the need to equate every prophet to a story, there are at least four that I think are worthy of remembering. While this Nephi doesn't build a boat, doesn't see a threatening and chastising angel, or command an immortal army, he has several very significant stories to tell. For each event, I included one way to relate them to gospel topic

1. the fiery prison scene converting 300 Lamanites
       The perserverance and faith of the missionaries inspires their captors to faith.
2. the lamentation and prophecy of the chief judge Seezrom's murder as it happens
        The boldness and audacity of Nephi astound and convert many witnesses.
3. the divine manifestation and receipt of the sealing power
        The voice of God comes to Nephi as he is dejected and calls him to a greater work.
4. the intercession for his people which replaced the on-going war with a famine
        The prayers of the righteous have an enormous effect on the course of world events.

Each of these events certainly deserves individual attention. So far I have written about 11 mysterious parallels between his life and Alma the Younger's life (here), and soon I will write about the fiery prison experience.

Here is a general overview of Nephi son of Helaman's life:

 1 - raised in the faith by Helaman son of Helaman (Hel 3:21)
 2 - becomes chief judge when his father dies (Hel 3:37)
 3 - resigns his position to teach the word with his brother (Hel 5:1)
 4 - serves a very successful mission to the Nephites and Lamanites, including the prison scene in the Land of Nephi (Hel 5)
 5 - laments the wickedness of the people on his garden tower
 6 - prophesies the assassination of the chief judge
 7 - receives the sealing power and goes on preaching the word, conveyed from place to place by the Spirit
 8 - by his prayer the scourge of war is traded for the scourge of famine, and subsequently ended
 9 - baptizes all those converted by Samuel the Lamanite.
 10 - just before he "leaves," he transfers the records to his son Nephi, perhaps being translated.


Please comment if you read this. :)  What did you like here? Whom should I write about next?