According to Potter and Wellington, Nephi was a youth when he left Jerusalem with a boy’s bow. He was now a powerful young man with strength far beyond what the bow was designed to withstand. It follows that the bow, now potentially many years old, most likely broke because it was stressed beyond its designed limits. [George Potter & Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript (July 2000), p. 310]
“I Did Break My Bow”
According to an article by Nahum Waldman (reprinted by F.A.R.M.S), “the breaking of the bow” was a symbol in the ancient Near East for (1) the breaking of one’s military power and (2) the establishment of general peace by military or political master. The bow is also discussed as a symbol for (3) a person’s “strength and vigor.” [Nahum Waldman, “The Breaking of the Bow,” pp. 82-88]
1 Nephi 16:18 As I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow ([Illustration] Nephi’s Broken bow. “As I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow.” Artist: Michael Jarvis Nelson. [Thomas R. Valletta ed., The Book of Mormon for Latter-day Saint Families, 1999, p. 47]