“For Behold”

Alan C. Miner

Dennis and Sandra Packard note that at the end of 1 Nephi chapter 1 we read, "I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." Nephi then proceeds in the second chapter to do just that, showing how the Lord's mercy in warning Lehi to flee from Jerusalem made Lehi "mighty even unto the power of deliverance." So Nephi isn't using the words "for behold" simply as a stylistic marker, but as a signal to the reader that he is about to explain how he knows the Lord supports those who place their trust in him. Connecting words like "for," "but," and "thus" imply relationships of explanation or contrast between passages; and we can miss these relationships if we don't as a matter of habit, ask ourselves why these connecting words are used. [Dennis and Sandra Packard, "Pondering the Word," in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, FARMS, Vol 8, Num 2, 1999, p. 58]

Question: Is the answer to Nephi's statement answered so quickly in one chapter or are more of his writings implied?

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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