Hugh Nibley asserts that the purpose of the first return trip to Jerusalem was the procuring of certain records which were written on bronze plates (the Book of Mormon like the Bible always uses "brass" (see 1 Nephi 3:3) for what we call bronze--a word that has become current only since its translation). [Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, F.A.R.M.S, p. 94]
“Brass”
According to Cleon Skousen, technically brass consists of two parts of copper and one of zinc. However, this was such a rare phenomenon in ancient times that many authorities believe the word "brass" (see 1 Nephi 3:3) refers to copper or copper and tin which we call bronze (a modern term). This conclusion is supported by passages such as Deuteronomy 8:9, which speaks of digging "brass." Authorities feel this could only mean copper. The ancients learned how to combine tin with copper and then harden it or make it extremely flexible as desired. This art of the "bronze age" is completely lost to modern man. (See Hasting's
Dictionary of the Bible, under "brass.") [W. Cleon Skousen, Treasures from the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, p. 1036]
“Brass”
In the ancient Near East (Lehi's world), when it became extremely important to keep a record, they kept it on metal such as copper alloy, referred to as "brass" in the Bible. You won't find the word "bronze" in the Bible at all, though the Old Testament is a Bronze Age document (that being the alloy most probably made and referred to). In Joseph Smith's time they didn't use the word "bronze" at all. The main thing to keep in mind, however, is that the metal referred to was copper based.
According to Hugh Nibley, one good example of an ancient copper alloy record is the Copper Scroll. The Copper Scroll was found at Cave Three (at Qumran) in 1949. John Allegro wrote a book on them called The Treasure of the Copper Scroll. There's also an article by Norman Golb from 1987. Although they are referred to as a "scroll," they weren't on rolled (scroll-like) copper, they were originally on sheets--regular size sheets. There were holes along the side [apparently for some sort of binding ring], but they riveted them together so that they could roll them up. The reason they put the records on copper was so they wouldn't perish because (as Golb tells us in his article) they were extra valuable. They had to be preserved, so they put them on bronze or copper (almost pure copper; it's a slight alloy). [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1, p. 137]
1 Nephi 3:3 Brass ([Illustration]): The Copper Scrolls. [Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, p. 246]
“They Are Engraven Upon Plates of Brass”
William Hamblin notes that in the past, critics of the Book of Mormon have attacked the alleged absurdity of the Book of Mormon having been written on golden plates and its claim of the existence of an early sixth-century-B.C. version of the Hebrew Bible written on brass plates. Today, however, critics almost universally admit that there are numerous examples of ancient writing on metal plates. Ironically, some critics now claim instead that knowledge of such plates was readily available in Joseph Smith's day. Hugh Nibley's 1952 observation seems quite prescient: "It will not be long before men forget that in Joseph Smith's day the prophet was mocked and derided for his description of the plates more than anything else."
Walter Burkert, in his recent study of the cultural dependence of Greek civilization on the ancient Near East, refers to the transmission of the practice of writing on bronze plates (Semitic root dlt) from the Phoenicians to the Greeks. "The reference to 'bronze deltoi [plates, from dlt]' as a term [among the Greeks] for ancient sacral laws should point back to the seventh or sixth century [B.C.]" as the period in which the terminology and the practice of writing on bronze plates was transmitted from the Phoenicians to the Greeks. Students of the Book of Mormon will note that this is precisely the time and place in which the Book of Mormon claims that there existed similar bronze plates which contained the "ancient sacred laws" of the Hebrews, the close cultural cousins of the Phoenicians. [William J. Hamblin, "Metal Plates and the Book of Mormon," in Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., 1999, p. 20]
“Plates of Brass”
A good example of an Hebraism is found in 1 Nephi 3:3 with the phrase "plates of brass." John A. Tvedtnes explains that the Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon help persuade us that it is authentic. . . . When English shows a possessive or descriptive relationship between two nouns, it usually puts the possessive or descriptive noun first: the king's house or wood house. Hebrew, however, uses the opposite order: house the king (which would usually be translated house of the king). . . . If the Hebrew word order is kept in the English translation, the word of must be added, even though it does not exist in the Hebrew. [John A. Tvedtnes, "The Hebrew Background of the Book of Mormon" in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., p. 79]
1 Nephi 3:3 Plates of brass ([Illustration]): Gold Tablets from Palace of Darius. One of the gold tablets from the Palace of Darius discovered in Iran in 1933. They date from about 500 B.C.--near the time of Nephi. The Empire of Darius included Nephi's homeland. [Milton Hunter and Stuart Ferguson, Ancient America and the Book of Mormon, p. 101
1 Nephi 3:3 Plates of brass ([Illustration]): Cast brass plates on display in the National Museum, Sana'a dating to about A.D. 400. [Warren and Michaela Aston, In the Footsteps of Lehi, p. 9]
1 Nephi 3:3 Plates of Brass ([Illustration]): Records of Darius in solid gold and silver bearing an inscription in three languages--Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. The plates date from about 518-515 B.C. and were found at Persepolis, Iran. By permission of The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. [Franklin S. Harris, Jr., The Book of Mormon Message and Evidences, p. 4]
1 Nephi 3:7 I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded ([Illustration]): Nephi Returning for the Plates of Brass. "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded." Artist: Robert T. Barrett. [Thomas R. Valletta ed., The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families, 1999, p. 9]