Nephi, under the direction of the Spirit, had used sharpness with his brothers, which sharpness was the directness of the truth and the power of the word. The Spirit had mandated the strong language of rebuke. Nephi had also appeared angry, and even though Lehi, in a fatherly way, defended Nephi’s forceful approach with his brothers, later we will see that Nephi did feel real anger; he knew that such an intense feeling was wrong, and he desired to repent of it. The message was true and correct and delivered under the influence of the Spirit of God, but Nephi felt that his own feelings accompanying it were a little out of control (see commentary at 2 Nephi 4:17–29).