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Book of Mormon Commentary
1 Nephi Chapter 5
NEPHI DIRECTED TO BUILD A SHIP, VER. 68-83
1 Ne 5:68 And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of
many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying, Arise, and get thee into the mountain.
5:68 This indicates that the Lehites were close to a mountain. The maps show that there is a chain
of mountains near the southern coast of the Arabian peninsula as well as the eastern shore of the
Red Sea.
While God did not demand that all his prophets should meet him in the mountain, some of the
richest spiritual experiences had by men of God were after they had drawn apart to some mountain
(see discussion of I N. 3: 38).
1 Ne 5:70 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying, Thou shalt construct a ship, after the
manner which I shall shew thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.
5:70 This is the first intimation Lehi and Nephi had received that the “land of promise" lay across
the ocean from Jerusalem (see 1 N. 1:54, 174; 2:7, 19; 3:17,97). This must have been a rather
surprising revelation to Nephi. Perhaps it was almost stunning to be commanded to build a ship for
the voyage. So far as the record shows, he was not even a carpenter. It is to his credit that he did
not question the practicability of the command. That he grasped the enormity of the task at once is
shown by his first words, “Whither shall I go, that I may find ore to molten, that I may make
tools?" (71). Nephi never lost his faith 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" (I N. 1:65; 5:59; D. and C. 5:6d). Experience had shown him that he could "do
all things through Christ which strengtheneth" (Phil. 4: 13) .
1 Ne 5:72 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make
tools.
5:72 We are not told that Nephi went into the mountains nearby, but we know that iron ore is often
found in mountainous terrain. His next problem was solved by using the skins of beasts for a
"bellows wherewith to blow the fire" (73). Without this implement the heat could not be raised to
the required intensity to liquefy the iron in the ore.
His next task was to produce a fire. He got this by striking two stones together. These likely were
flint stones, which make a spark when struck together. This detail is given by Nephi since they had
not used fire for cooking much on the journey (see comments on 5:57).
Metallurgy was known and used by the Israelites (Exod. 32:24).
1 Ne 5:79 Wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall be led toward the
promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.
5: 79 Without such an assurance Nephi would have faced a grim future. He could face complaints,
even the violence of his brethren. And like Paul he was willing to face danger and the abuse of
others, for “If God be for us, who can prevail against us?" (Rom. 8:31). The promise was not only
that God would bless him in the task of shipbuilding and protect them on the voyage, but that