Our received Old Testament version also contains genealogies, but they are through Judah, not Joseph. The Josephite genealogy is a further indication that the brass plates represent a different text from the one available to readers today. As Sorenson points out, the genealogy itself points to a northern origin for the brass plates. Further, the explanation that Laban kept the records because he too was a descendant of Joseph tells us that the record was related to the tribe of Joseph and that the task of preservation (if not the addition of texts) was in the hands of that tribe.
Text: We have the information about the brass plates because we have the Book of Mormon. It is therefore possible that we have the Book of Mormon because the Lehites had the brass plates. These plates provided many of the models used in the development and transmission of the Book of Mormon texts up to the time of Mormon’s compilation. (See also Behind the Text: Chapter 6, “The Physical Plates.”)
The first obvious similarity is the preservation of the sacred text on metal. The brass plates and Nephi’s gold plates are both structurally similar. It may even be that Nephi’s use of gold was an attempt to copy the brass. In a Mesoamerican context, gold may have been so plentiful, comparatively speaking, that it was the logical choice. Physically, the brass plates provided a model for the Nephite plates.
The language of the Nephite plates may also have been influenced by that of the brass plates, especially the necessity of understanding Egyptian to read the brass plates (Mosiah 1:4). If they were written using any form of Egyptian, Nephi’s decision to use Egyptian (later called “reformed Egyptian”) would have been influenced by the sacred language in which the brass plates were written.
The brass plates were in the keeping of descendants of Joseph, who almost certainly also continued to add sacred texts to the compilation. This lineal transmission of records apparently finds a parallel in a fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls:
Do not mourn [for him…] God will prepare many [books? Scrolls?…] many revelations and [. . .] Examine them and seek and know what will befall you. But do not damage them by erasure or [we]ar like [. . .] Do not bring shame on the priestly headplate.
Thus you will keep up a good reputation for your father and you will become a sound foundation for your brothers. You will grow and understand and be glad in the light of the world; you will not be a disowned vessel.
In this passage, the speaker is Levi, declaring to his descendants the important task of preserving his record. This expectation of a lineally preserved record is precisely the situation we have with the brass plates and the lineage of Joseph. As noted, the brass plates apparently have a closer tie to Joseph than to Judah. This lineal affiliation may also have influenced the fact that the small plates were preserved and added to by a specific lineage.
The dual transmission line of the large and small plates may also have some connection to the model of the brass plates. The brass plates were transmitted through the line of Joseph, but just as clearly, the descendants of Judah maintained a set of scriptures (becoming the Masoretic text). This model of multiple sets of scripture might also have influenced the Nephite tradition of large/small plates. Since the large plates became the politically transmitted set, there may have been a precedent in Jerusalem for an “official” record transmitted through those with political power, while the brass plates, were transmitted through descendants of a particular lineage. (See the commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 3:3 for a discussion of the influence of the brass plates on the Nephite religion and culture.)