The brothers’ anger continues the longstanding dispute between Nephi and Laman and Lemuel. Even during Lehi’s life, the brothers resisted Nephi to the point of seeking his life. Now, the last vestige of familial loyalty was disappearing. Nephi recognizes his brothers’ argument (allegedly stolen primogeniture) but rejects it. He identifies the cause as his brothers’ unease at the constant reminders that they have denied and spurned Yahweh and the Spirit. Once a person has turned against the Spirit, its presence in another often generates anger with that person, a kind of generalized hatred toward all that is good.