1 Nephi 8:35-37
35 And Laman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit, said my father. …
37 And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words….
Nephi was probably in his early or mid-fifties{1} when he put the final editorial touches on First Nephi. By then, he reports, “we had already had wars and contentions with our brethren” (2 Nephi 5:34), We often stop and ponder Nephi’s comment about his father. “He did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent.” We wonder if he really understood it that clearly when he saw it as a young teenager, or if he came to understand it later, when, as a father, he had experienced and recognized the feelings his father felt back then. If the latter, then the words present us not only with a window into Lehi’s personality, but also a larger window into the depths of Nephi’s soul.
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FOOTNOTE
{1} See above: 1 Nephi 1:4, reign of Zedekiah.
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