Finally Jacob tells us the words which we are reluctant to hear. He says Nephi died. Up to this point in the Book of Mormon the reader cannot help but identify himself with the magnificent character of Nephi. He is almost too good to be true. It comes as a shock to suddenly realize that this is the last time we will have contact with the words and deeds of this beloved, faithful, spectacular personality. Now let us pause for a moment to consider the highlights of the life of this great man. As far as we can surmise, Nephi was born around 616 B.C.He was a direct descendant of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and came through the lineage of Manasseh, the son of Joseph.8
Even as a late teenager, Nephi was large in stature 9 and very strong.10 He was educated and trained by his own father11 and this included not only moral training, but skill in reading and writing of Egyptian,12 working in "all manner of wood," constructing buildings as elaborate as Solomon's temple, smelting, refining and tooling artifacts of iron, copper, brass, steel, gold and silver.13 He was also trained in breaking and domesticating horses and oxen,14 he gained skill as a hunter of wild game with a both a steel and a wooden bow,15 and he was also good with a sling like David of old.
16Nephi had remarkable spiritual attributes of the most powerful kind. This gave him granite-like faith in the Lord and confidence that he could accomplish anything that the Lord commanded him to do. 17 He was a pillar of strength to his father and carried out his father's instructions implicitly, regardless of the odds.
18 Because of his faithfulness, Nephi received a great many extraordinary revelations. As suggested previously, he is thought to be one of the very few persons allowed to see and talk with the heavenly messenger known to us as the Holy Ghost.19 He saw the famous Tree of Life -- the allegory his father had seen; he saw the virgin Mary, he saw the Savior as a child, he traced the Savior's ministry, he saw his crucifixion, resurrection, and the ministry of the Apostles after him. He knew the terrible destruction which would convulse the western hemisphere at the time of the Savior's death and he saw that after the Savior's resurrection, he would visit the Saints in America.
20 Nephi was not only prophetically acquainted with the virgin Mary (whose striking beauty was extremely impressive to Nephi, by the way21), but he was acquainted with the lives and missions of John the Baptist,22 John the Beloved,23 and Joseph Smith the modern prophet.
24 Nephi knew his own descendants would be destroyed as a people and the remnants would intermingle with the Lamanites. But he also knew that eventually the western hemisphere would be discovered by Columbus,25 that the Spanish, French, and other Gentile nations of Europe would drive and plunder the Indians.26 He knew that the American colonists would win the Revolutionary War,27 that the Lord would raise up a choice servant from among the Gentiles to restore the gospel, and that his name would be Joseph, as well as his father.
Nephi knew an amazing quantity of details concerning the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, including the fact that some of the "words of the book" would be presented by Martin Harris to one of America's foremost classical scholars in that day, Professor Charles Anthon of Columbia University. He knew the gold plates would be seen by three special witnesses28 and a "few" others who would be named by the Lord.29
Now a few additional details. Nephi not only knew a lot but he did a lot. His life was literally saturated with supremely dramatic experiences. After spending his early life in a luxurious home where his father had accumulated all the comforts and wealth of a successful merchant prince, Nephi had the highly disturbing shock of seeing his father's life threatened. This was particularly traumatic in view of the fact that Lehi was undoubtedly a man of considerable prestige and influence in his own right (almost like a member of the Jerusalem Rotary Club!). Nevertheless, to save his life and fulfill a commandment of the Lord, Nephi saw his father and all of their family abandon their town house in Jerusalem and their beautiful family estate in the country and embark on an unknown venture into an unknown destination.
Later, in returning to get the brass plates upon which the scriptures of the tribe of Joseph were inscribed, Nephi and his brothers barely escaped being killed by Laban's soldiers. Nephi subsequently received a good beating from his older brothers for his suggestion that they trade their family treasure for the plates of Laban that the Lord had commanded them to obtain and take to the promised land; but that very same night he was successful in obtaining the plates of Laban after a hair-raising experience which could have easily gotten him killed.
On a second trip back to the land of Jerusalem to invite Ishmael's family to join the trek, Nephi barely escaped being killed on the desert. His brothers bound him and were going to leave him helpless where he would be devoured by wild beasts. Only through the intervention of some of the members of Ishmael's family did Nephi escape.
While crossing 2,500 miles of desolate wilderness in eight years, Nephi was the principal provider. When he broke his steel bow in the mountains, which is believed to have been near Medina, the entire party nearly starved to death. It was only after he had improvised a wooden bow that he was able to kill the wild game which saved their lives. Even so, at Nahom his other brothers tried to kill Nephi and his father. It was only by the Lord's intervention that their lives were spared.
Later, at Bountiful, when Nephi was commanded by the Lord to build a boat, these same brothers would have drowned Nephi by throwing him into the sea had not the Lord again intervened.
Nephi did build the boat (with the brothers finally agreeing to help) and sailed half-way around the world to the western shores of America. He then separated from his brothers while they were fomenting their fourth murder plot against him. He escaped into the wilderness with his followers where he built his own city with a temple, fine homes, and the basic institutions for a high-ordered civilization. Eventually, of course, the marauding raiders from the camps of his brothers found his hideout and Nephi had to take up the sword to prevent his people from being annihilated.
Such was the life of Nephi.