Rhetoric: Nephi’s response draws on the logic of his brothers’ cultural identity. For all of their complaints, Laman and Lemuel accept Abraham and Moses. Nephi uses their assumption of the way their world is constructed to position them as parallel to the Israelites who complained against Moses. In so doing, Nephi also highlights the futility of their attempt to deny Yahweh’s power. It is a very calculated speech. By posing his rhetorical question, he requires them to admit that Yahweh led the Israelites out of Egypt. To believe anything else would deny their historical identity. While Laman and Lemuel might deny Lehi and Nephi, they could not deny Moses.
By choosing this particular example, Nephi sets in motion an argument that is both undeniable and so parallel to their own circumstances that it unmistakably condemns Laman and Lemuel’s actions.