The words of Nephi: “I know” (1 Nephi 3:7), and of Lehi: “I know” (1 Nephi 5:4), and of Sariah: “Now I know of a surety” (1 Nephi 5:8) might not just be representative of simple faith, but a genuine witness to a covenant relationship with the Lord, and the power of His covenant word both in person and in written record to preserve them and their posterity while journeying in the wilderness to the promised land. Can we liken this to (1) the sign of the covenant; and (2) the sure sign of the covenant? If the words “I know” are covenant words, did Sariah also make a covenant with the Lord similar to Lehi and Nephi? Or is Sariah‘s covenant with the Lord implicit in Lehi’s covenant? In other words, had Sariah covenanted to obey her husband as he obeyed the covenant he had made with the Lord? When Nephi says “after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father” (1 Nephi 5:3), is he referring to covenant related language? [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See the commentary of 1 Nephi 1:3; 1 Nephi 3:7; 1 Nephi 5:2; 3 Nephi 14:23; 1 Nephi 5:4]
1 Nephi 5:8 Now I know of a surety ([Illustration] Sariah’s Epiphany. Artist: John S. Lepinski. [Camille Fronk, “Desert Epiphany: Sariah & the Women in 1 Nephi,” in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 9, Num. 2, 2000, FARMS, p. 4] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 5:2]