Jacob’s discourse on the effect of law identifies two categories—those who have not received these laws during their life, and those who have. In this passage, Jacob explains the situation of those without law but spends most of the rest of the chapter speaking to and about those who have received it.
Culture: This contrast between those with and without the law may reflect Jacob’s audience as consisting of lineal Nephites and political Nephites. Jacob’s statement about the condition of those without the law would answer the question of the new converts about their unconverted kin.