Some critics of the Book of Mormon have wondered why the Bible doesn’t tell of the exodus of the families of Lehi and Ishmael. The answer, of course, is that Lehi and company left Jerusalem in secret, that the Jews might not know concerning our flight into the wilderness (1 Nephi 4:36). In the case of the Jaredites, there is no scripture which explicitly names Jared, but there are references to the scattering of groups all over the earth, the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth (Gen 11:8). Furthermore, we learn from Josephus that some of these groups specifically traveled by sea, “there were some also who passed over the sea in ships, and inhabited the islands.” (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Chap. V) Thus, there is a scriptural and historical precedent, outside of the Book of Mormon itself, which acknowledges the scattering of many people from the tower of Babel.
Milton R. Hunter
"A few years ago an apostle said to me: ’It would be a discovery of great significance if one were to find an Indian book which sustained the Book of Mormon.’
"Such a book exists; in fact, I shall present quotations from…such Indian books produced during the American colonial period that contain materials similar to those found in the Book of Mormon. The Indian writers add their witness to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Ixtlilxochitl, an Indian prince who lived in the valley of Mexico, wrote a book containing the history of his ancestors from the time of their arrival in America until the coming of the Spaniards…
"Ixtlilxochitl…claims that the first settlers to come to America following the flood came from ‘a very high tower’ or the Tower of Babel. Observe how similar the accounts are as I quote from them.
’Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.’ (Eth. 1:33.)
"Ixtlilxochitl, the Indian writer, puts it this way:
’And … men, multiplying made a … very high tower, in order to shelter themselves in it when the second world should be destroyed…When things were at their best, their language was changed and, not understanding each other, they went to different parts of the world.’ (Works of Ixtlilxochitl, cited in Milton R. Hunter and Thomas Stuart Ferguson, Ancient America and The Book of Mormon, 1950, p. 24.)
"In order that we might make additional comparison of the Book of Mormon and the Works of Ixtlilxochitl, we quote the Jaredite record:
’… the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of [Jared’s people]…’ (Eth. 1:35, 37.)
"Then the Lord guided Jared’s colonists over the land to the seashore and, in barges brought them to America, ’into a land which [he declared] is choice above all the lands of the earth.’ (Eth. 1:42.)
"The comparable story in Ixtlilxochitl states:
’… and the Tultecas, who were as many as seven companions and their wives, who understood their language among themselves, came to these parts, having first crossed lands and seas, living in caves and undergoing great hardships, until they came to this land, which they found good and fertile for their habitation.’(Ixtlilxochitl, op. cit., pp. 24-25.)" (Conference Report, Apr. 1970, pp. 100-101)