Nephi explains what has caused the exclusionary tendencies he is denouncing. Ludlow suggests: “Nephi indicates [that] one danger of priestcraft is that such professional religious leaders would be more concerned with teaching those things which were popular and acceptable unto the people than they would in preaching the word of God. Thus they seek to ‘get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion’ (2 Ne. 26:29).”
We should interpret these priestcrafters in the context of Nephi’s statements against those who “put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor” (v. 20). Given these examples, it seems reasonable to define “priestcrafts” as individuals or groups who exclude people on the basis of social and/or economic hierarchies.