Culture: Despite this verse’s terseness, it communicates volumes. Nibley notes that the tent is the focus of the Bedouin way of life. They take oaths that feature the tent as the seat of the family. (See also commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 2:16–17 and 4:31–35.)
Tent-dwelling communicates that the family has adopted a nomadic lifestyle. They are not simply “camping” in a temporary dwelling while awaiting the construction of another home outside Jerusalem. They will be traveling. They no longer have a permanent home.
Literature: The verse is not a chapter division, but rather a literary ending point, marking the end of the flight episode and culminating their abandoning their city, inheritance, and wealth. “Dwelt in a tent” is a simple phrase that occurs three times in 1 Nephi, a repeated theme suggesting more than mere information about where Lehi lived (1 Ne. 2:15, 10:16, 16:6). The events associated with the phrase all take place in the valley of Lemuel, but the phrase marks something more important than an event or a place. This phrase separates textual units that are important turning points in Nephi’s narrative: it has a structural function.
This first unit is the departure from Jerusalem, including Lehi’s vision and calling. The family flees from Jerusalem and stops in the valley of Lemuel. “And my father dwelt in a tent” marks the end of this conceptual unit. The next repetition is at 1 Nephi 10:16: “And all these things, of which I have spoken, were done as my father dwelt in a tent, in the valley of Lemuel.” Again, it ends a narrative unit containing the retrieval of the brass plates and Lehi’s vision and following exhortation. Next comes Nephi’s dream and exhortation, which concludes with the third mention of the “tent” (1 Ne. 16:6).
Each narrative unit consists of a prophetic experience and a result of that experience: (1) As a result of Lehi’s visions, the family leaves Jerusalem. (2) Lehi receives Yahweh’s command that Nephi and his brothers should return to Jerusalem for the brass plates. Nephi has a vision and acts upon it. Upon Nephi’s return, Lehi has a vision of the tree of life and preaches to his family about the meaning of the dream. (3) Nephi has a vision and expounds its meaning to his brothers.
Units 1 and 3 are fairly straightforward. The second unit is more complicated, including visions and actions by both Lehi and Nephi. In this second unit, the narrative focus shifts from Lehi to Nephi. The phrase therefore not only marks the units, but it also marks a shifting focus in the narration. We begin with Lehi, move to a unit including Lehi and Nephi, and continue to the third unit that focuses on Nephi alone. All of these things happened as Lehi “dwelt in a tent.”