As Joseph taught, in order to obtain happiness we must keep all the commandments. When we fail to keep the commandments, the Spirit withdraws, and we become unhappy. Without food it is natural for man to murmur and complain as did Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael. Their hunger must have been great and must have been for an extended period of time because even father Lehi “began to murmur against the Lord” (v. 20). But here the great character of Nephi is illustrated. He not only tries to appease his brothers, but he does something to alleviate their difficult situation. He improvises a wooden bow and arrow, and then asks his father “whither shall I go to obtain food” (v. 23). Nephi was honoring his father in spite of his father’s temporary loss of faith. This act is even more significant in light of the promise the Lord had given him that he would “be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren” (1 Nephi 2:22). Most people would probably have seen this as an opportunity to take over, and justify his doing so because of the previous promise. However, Nephi was determined to keep all the commandments of the Lord. Honoring his father certainly bolstered his father’s faith as well. This is the only time the record tells of Lehi faltering, and the example of his youngest son must have been a great inspiration to him.
Elder Marion D. Hanks confirms and adds to the above observations:
I see a lesson of life here that I do not think Joseph Smith could possibly have contrived. It has too much meaning. He did not have the experience. He had not lived long enough. This is so simple a thing that I doubt many would pause to note it. It is the lesson of the day Nephi broke his bow when they were in the wilderness, This bow was a symbol of food. He was keeping them alive, being a great hunter. And when that bow broke they were in trouble. Laman and Lemuel complained, of course. They were habituated to, they were looking for trouble. But for the first and only time the book tells us about, that I know of, even wonderful old father Lehi complained. He to whom God had revealed his will, this Lehi, when it came to facing starvation, even he complained. Then what happened? This situation is sometime present in almost every business, every college, every governmental unit in the land, in many homes, in churches, where there is a crown prince and heir apparent, the boy who is ready to step up. Lehi was the prophet, but he was old. Nephi had already been designated to succeed. He had seen angels and had talked with the spirit of the Lord. He had had marvelous experiences. The time was here, now, for him to take over-his dad was wavering. The old man had lost it.
What to do? Nephi says he made a bow and an arrow out of some available wood, got a sling and stones and, “I said unto my Father, ‘Whither shall I go to obtain food?’” It is a simple thing, isn’t it? This is what Goethe meant when he said, “If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he could be and ought to be, he will become what he ought to be.” This means that Nephi went to his father and said, “Dad, the Lord has blessed you. You are his servant. I need to know where to go to get food. Dad, you ask him, will you?” Oh, he could have gone to his own knees. He could have taken over.
I count this one of the really significant lessons of life in the book, and, I repeat, the pages are full of them. A son who had strength enough, and humility enough, and manliness enough to go to his wavering superior and say, “You ask God, will you?” because somehow he knew this is how you make men strong, that wise confidence in men builds them. Lehi asked God and God told him, and Lehi’s leadership was restored. [Elder Marion D. Hanks, May 4, 1960, BYU Speeches of the Year, 6]
Some have challenged the use of steel (v. 18) at this period of time. However, the knowledge of steel, and its use in bows has been verified. Dr. Hugh Nibley has written:
Through the years critics of the Book of Mormon have constantly called attention to the mention of steel in that book as a gross anachronism. But now we are being reminded that one cannot be dogmatic in dating the appearance of steel since there is more than one kind of steel with “a whole series of variants in the combination of iron and steel components” in ancient times; and when a particularly fine combination was hit upon it would be kept secret in “individual workshops” and “passed on from father to son for many generations.” Hence it is not too surprising to learn that “even in early European times” there is evidence of the production of steel “of very high quality” and extreme hardness. Further east steel is attested even earlier.
Earlier Dr. Nibley wrote:
A steel bow was not necessarily a solid piece of metal, anymore than the Canaanites’ “chariots of iron” (Joshua 17:16–18; Judges 1:19, 4:3) were solid iron, or than various implements mentioned in the Old Testament… . It was in all probability a steel-ribbed bow, since it broke at about the same time that the wooden bows of his brothers “lost their spring.” Only composite bows were used in Palestine, that is, bows of more than one piece, and a steel backed bow would be called a steel bow just as an iron-trimmed chariot was called a “chariot of iron.”