Rhetoric: Limhi begins to recount his people’s history. This is not because they do not know it, but because that history frames current events. When Limhi recounts the arrival of his people in the land of Nephi, he describes Zeniff as “over-zealous” and “deceived.” Zeniff called himself over-zealous (Mosiah 9:3) and likely came to feel that they had been deceived (Mosiah 9:14–15). Limhi is explaining their current situation by pointing to the sins of their fathers.
The contrast between this bondage-producing past and his people’s current righteousness lets Limhi encourage an increase of faith that they can be liberated. I suspect that, by recounting the tale of Lamanite deception, he is preparing his people psychologically to abandon their homes for the eventual move to Zarahemla.
Geography: Sorenson assumes that the city of Nephi (pre-Zarahemla) and the city of Lehi-Nephi are the same; he suggests the archaeological site of Kaminaljuyú (outside modern Guatemala City, Guatemala) as a logical location. While he makes a geographical case for this assignment, it is also possible that there is a difference between Lehi-Nephi and Nephi. For example, when Zeniff returns to the land of his fathers, he does not return specifically to the city of his fathers. While nearly every city was surrounded by “lands” as dependent areas, the Book of Mormon also uses “land” more generically as a region. Sorenson suggests that Zeniff’s chief motive for moving back to Lehi-Nephi might have been arable land. Therefore, he may not have been primarily motivated by the reacquiring the buildings of the urban site. The possibility of Lehi-Nephi and Nephi as separate sites helps us visualize a more logical scenario for Mosiah1’s exodus and Zeniff’s return. Mosiah1 did not bring all of the Nephites with him, nor does it seem likely that all of the lineal Nephites would have vanished from the area. However, Zeniff did not, apparently, meet any kinfolk. He negotiated with a Lamanite king, who ruled over the city of Nephi (to which the city of Lehi-Nephi would have been dependent, if, in fact, it was a separate city).
Kaminaljuyú was both relatively important and rich at this time. Susan Toby Evans, professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, describes the city during this time period: “In the highlands above the coast, Kaminaljuyú during the Arenal phase (300 B.C.–A.D. 100) continued to direct more of its attention toward the coastal plain rather than toward the Chiapas highlands. During this period, the later part of Miraflores culture, population densities were greatest and the site underwent its most expansive program of monumental building and production of sculptures.” It seems odd that, right at the time of greatest population expansion, the residents of the city of Nephi (if it were Kaminaljuyú) would voluntarily abandon it for Zeniff’s small group, especially since they would have been seen as outsiders. For these reasons, it seems more reasonable to envision a smaller village of Lehi-Nephi in the land of Nephi than to assume that Lehi-Nephi and the city of Nephi are identical locales.