The Second Book of Nephi (), usually referred to as Second Nephi or 2 Nephi, is the second book of the Book of Mormon, the primary religious text of the Latter-day Saint Movement. Narrated by Nephi, son of Lehi, unlike the first Book of Nephi, 2 Nephi contains little history of the Nephite people and focuses predominately on visions and prophecies of Nephi himself and other prophets, particularly Isaiah.
The book begins with Lehi's blessings and final teachings to his family before his death. Lehi explores themes of cosmological dualism ("opposition"), the Fall of man, resurrection, and atonement. After Lehi's death the family splits into two factions: the Nephites, led by Nephi, and the Lamanites led by Nephi's older brother Laman. The Nephites are forced to flee their original settlement and the Lamanites are cursed by God with a "skin of blackness". The Nephites build a temple and follow the Law of Moses. Nephi and his younger brother Jacob preach, extensively quoting and analyzing the Book of Isaiah, often word-for-word from the King James Version of the Bible.
Structure Second Nephi was originally called the Book of Nephi and was divided into 33 chapters. Later, Oliver Cowdery added First and Second to the titles of the books of Nephi. In the first five chapters, which comprise the narrative section of the book, Nephi continues with the family meeting begun in the end of First Nephi. Much of the rest of Second Nephi includes quotations from Isaiah and further teachings from Nephi and his brother Jacob. Joseph Spencer explains that the simple structure of 2 Nephi is as follows: the division of Lehi’s descendants (chapters 1–5), teachings concerning reconciliation with God (chapters 6–30), and discussion on baptism (chapters 31–33).
+SummaryChaptersLehi's farewell1–4:12Division of Nephites and Lamanites4:13–5Jacob teaches the Nephites6–10Nephi witnesses of Christ11Nephi quotes Isaiah12–24Nephi prophesies and elaborates25–33;
Narration
Lehi's last counsel
Second Nephi begins with a reminder that Lehi had warned of Jerusalem's destruction and that his family had been purposefully led to safety. In the narrative, Lehi receives a vision confirming that Jerusalem has been destroyed; his family also learns the "promised land" they were led to is their inheritance as long as they follow God.
Lehi advises each of his sons to follow Nephi’s leadership, particularly Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael. He then blesses Zoram, as a friend of Nephi, saying that his descendants will flourish if they are righteous. Lehi then blesses Jacob, promising that his suffering will be consecrated; he also speaks to him about the Atonement with a focus on opposition and how both good and bad things are important in life. He teaches all of his sons that the Fall of Man was necessary for humans to progress past their original innocent state and have children, emphasizing that all have their own right to choose for themselves. After blessing Jacob, Lehi speaks to Joseph. In his blessing, he says that Joseph's descendants will not be completely destroyed. Further, he cites a prophecy from Joseph of Egypt, which is contained in the brass plates and predicts that God will prepare a seer named Joseph. This seer, Lehi explains, has ancestral connections to both Joseph of Egypt and Joseph, son of Lehi, and will bring the knowledge of the covenant back to Lehi’s descendants. Lehi also reveals that Joseph of Egypt prophesied of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Lehi proceeds to bless Laman and Lemuel’s children so that their people will never become extinct. Afterward, he blesses Ishmael’s sons, Sam, and Sam’s family. Nephi does not describe any specific personal blessings he might have received at this time.
Division of the people Lehi dies sometime after giving these blessings to his family and Nephi follows the account with his own words. In his psalm, Nephi records his struggles with sin and remembers some of the times God has saved him. Later, Laman, Lemuel, and Ishmael’s descendants are upset about Nephi being chosen as their leader and try to kill him. He prays about Laman and Lemuel’s murmuring and dissent and is told by God to take his family into the wilderness. In response, he takes the brass plates, the Liahona, and Laban’s sword, and leaves with Zoram, Sam, Jacob, Joseph, and his sisters. This group becomes the Nephites. They work and are obedient to the commandments and build a temple modeled after Solomon’s. Nephi chooses not to be king but continues to help his people. He makes swords based on the sword of Laban for protection in case the Lamanites attack. The Lamanites are cut off from God, cursed, and given a "skin of blackness" to make them "loathsome" to the Nephites unless they repent.; Nephi consecrates Jacob and Joseph as priests and teachers, and the Nephites "live after the manner of happiness.";
Jacob's sermon In chapters 6–10, Jacob gives a two-day sermon that includes many words from Isaiah 49:22–52:2 in which he invites the people to compare Isaiah’s teachings to their own experiences. He preaches about "the Holy One of Israel", God’s plan, the consequences of sin, resurrection, judgment, deliverance from hell, and the righteous' inheritance of God’s kingdom. In his sermon, Jacob warns the prideful wealthy, those who think their intellect sets them above God’s teachings, and various others who ignore God; he states that in these conditions they cannot be saved. He then speaks of the Jews, Gentiles, and descendants of Lehi in the last days before Christ’s coming and explains that the Gentiles will be counted as part of the house of Israel. He also teaches that after Israel is scattered, descendants of the house of Israel who repent and believe will be subsequently restored to their lands. The land Lehi’s family has come to is a land of inheritance and is promised as a land of liberty. Jacob ends with the instruction to turn to God and choose eternal life.
Nephi quotes Isaiah, prophesies, and gives final counsel Nephi too writes of likening the words of Isaiah to the Nephites and says that the purpose of the Mosaic covenant is to show that Christ will come. Nephi claims that his entire life and the purpose of his writings is to witness of Christ and be an example so people can receive the blessings of the covenant. Many of the next Isaiah quotations, found in chapters 12–24, focus on judgment, restoration, and the Messiah.
In chapters 25–33, Nephi himself prophesies, still including words from Isaiah. He continues with a focus on the Messiah and then turns to false churches of the future and people fighting against Zion, as well as the emergence of the Book of Mormon. He predicts that churches in the "last days" will be prideful and spread false teachings and warns churches against priestcraft, telling them not to keep the free blessings of the gospel away from anyone. Nephi explains that the "great and abominable" church will fall and as such records many warnings against sin and its consequences. Nephi also predicts that the Jews, Nephites, and the lost Israelites will eventually receive and have access to each others’ writings. He prophesies of the return of the Gospel to Lehi’s descendants and speaks again on restoration. He says that to be saved, one must repent, be baptized in the name of Christ, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. He explains again the importance of the words of Christ and ends by inviting the reader to pray in order to believe in Christ and know that his words are true.
Interpretation
Break between First and Second Nephi Different theories have emerged as to why Nephi's two books seem to break in the middle of a family event. Frederick Axelgard, Latter-day Saint and Senior Fellow at the Wheatley Institute, suggests the account would be better divided at 2 Nephi 5, which generally marks the end of Nephi's historical narrative. Political science professor and apologist Noel B. Reynolds writes that the first five chapters of Second Nephi seem to be establishing Nephi's authority and leadership qualifications.
Alternatively, literary scholar Terryl Givens proposes the interruption of the timeline was purposeful to emphasize an important theme of covenants in the Book of Mormon. Lehi's vision confirms Jerusalem and its temple have been destroyed, says Givens, and triggers subsequent explanations to show the family they are still a covenant people to God and that the Israelites will not be lost forever. These are ideas that Givens connects to Moroni's introductory thematic statement on the purpose of the Book of Mormon. He also suggests that Lehi's blessings to his children and many of the Isaiah quotations are aimed at this same purpose and show the family they are part of the covenant as long as they do not reject the Messiah.
Dark skin of the Lamanites a curse
2 Nephi 5:21 describes the Lamanites as being cursed and marked with a "skin of blackness" because of their unbelief in order to make them less attractive to the Nephites. In 2 Nephi 30:6, the Lamanites are promised to become "pure and delightsome" (a passage that was "white and delightsome" before 1981). In a book about Mormon conceptions of race, sociologist Armand Mauss writes that modern secular readers see these passages as referring to race, and interpret them as reflecting the 19th-century racism of the day. Mauss argues that "white" was "almost always" a synonym for pure and clean in the Book of Mormon's original text, but acknowledges that these verses informed the prevailing image of Lamanites as savage Indians who ought to be assimilated among mid-19th-century Latter-day Saints. Mauss calls for a nonracist interpretation of the verses in 2 Nephi. Since the Nephites and Lamanites are both descended from Lehi, he argues, their main differences are cultural, not racial. 2 Nephi 26:33 states that "all are alike unto God", specifically referring to "black and white, bond and free". Mauss interprets it as a "repudiation of racism in divine affairs". In another book on race and the early LDS Church, Max Mueller writes that this purported universalist idea is "rooted in the limitations of whiteness as a universal racial category, a reality of which the Book of Mormon itself seems to be aware." In his Annotated Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy writes that modern readers are justifiably distressed by the Lamanites being marked with a dark skin. Hardy writes that skin color does not prevent the Lamanites from exceeding Nephites in righteousness, and the curse comes with a promise that their lineage will be preserved, while the Nephites eventually die out.
Atonement in 2 Nephi