This article is about Nephi, the son of Lehi, in the Book of Mormon. For other uses, see Nephi (disambiguation).

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi, the son of Lehi, is a prophet and founder of the Nephite people. He is also the author of First and Second Nephi, the first two books of the Book of Mormon. For other people by the name of Nephi that appear in the Book of Mormon, see Nephi (disambiguation).

Early life

Nephi and his family, consisting of his father, Lehi, his mother, Sariah, and his brothers, Laman, Lemuel, and Sam, lived in Jerusalem circa 600 BC, during the reign of King Zedekiah.

The new "Promised Land"

Nephi's father had a vision that Jerusalem would be destroyed, so he and his family left the city and went into the wilderness of the Arabian Peninsula. By the seashore, Nephi was commanded by God to build a ship, and though his brothers ridiculed him, Nephi did.

With the help of a compass called the Liahona, Nephi, his family, and his friends traveled across the

Nephi was made ruler over the people, who were called the Nephites after him, and succeeding kings were called Second Nephi, Third Nephi, etc., after him.

Speculation on the name

The origin of the name Nephi is uncertain. It is not an attested Hebrew name, but some LDS apologists have speculated that it may be a Hebrew form of the attested Egyptian name Nfr. In Phoenician and Aramaic inscriptions of Egyptian names containing nfr, the nfr element is rendered npy, and the closely related Hebrew language would presumably transcribe the name the same way. (See )

Alternatively, both believers and skeptics have occasionally proposed a connection between Nephi and the biblical Nephilim, the singular of which would be Nephil.

The name "Nephi" also appears in the Apocrypha, in 2 Maccabees 1:36 "And Neemias called this thing Naphthar, which is as much as to say, a cleansing: but many men call it Nephi." In this context it refers to naphtha.

See also

• First Book of Nephi
• Second Book of Nephi
• Plates of Nephi
• Nephites Нефий