It is ship-building rather than tool-making which sets off the brothers’ murmuring. First, this suggests that smelting ore and making tools was not unknown to them but that shipbuilding was. It is this activity for which they call Nephi a fool. Laman and Lemuel are not shipbuilders either, but they know enough about ships to understand that making an ocean-going vessel does not fall within their normal area of expertise. Lacking faith, they deride Nephi’s efforts.