“To Possess the Land of Their Inheritance”

Amaleki inscribed a relatively brief but fairly comprehensive historical record of his day. He again introduced us to something new: a large group of his people with an adventurous spirit “went up into the wilderness to return to the land of Nephi,” wanting to repossess their old homeland, called the land of Lehi-Nephi in Mosiah 7:1. Their leader was a strong and strong-willed man who caused fatal contention, and many of the group ended up dead in the wilderness. Fifty of them returned to the land of Zarahemla. Another large group later attempted the journey. Further on in the Book of Mormon, we learn that Zeniff left the land of Zarahemla to inherit the land of his fathers (Mosiah 7:9).

At this point Amaleki ended the record. The small plates that Nephi made some time after his family’s departure from Jerusalem were now full. The date is approximately 130 b.c., which means that this set of Nephi’s plates had been inscribed on and preserved for almost half a millennium.

“There Was a Large Number Who Were Desirous to Possess the Land of Their Inheritance”

Amaleki inscribed a relatively brief but fairly comprehensive historical record of his day. He again introduced us to something new: a large group of his people with an adventurous spirit “went up into the wilderness to return to the land of Nephi,” wanting to repossess their old homeland, called the land of Lehi-Nephi in Mosiah 7:1. Their leader was a strong and strong-willed man who caused fatal contention, and many of the group ended up dead in the wilderness. Fifty of them returned to the land of Zarahemla. Another large group later attempted the journey. Further on in the Book of Mormon, we learn that Zeniff left the land of Zarahemla to inherit the land of his fathers (Mosiah 7:9).

At this point Amaleki ended the record. The small plates that Nephi made some time after his family’s departure from Jerusalem were now full. The date is approximately 130 b.c., which means that this set of Nephi’s plates had been inscribed on and preserved for almost half a millennium.