This passage prepares the conclusion Nephi will present (v. 35). The crucial variable is the Israelite righteousness upon which entering their promised land is contingent. Nephi stresses that they replaced a comparatively unrighteous people, whose fate would have been far different had they repented.
Apologetics: A frustrating historical issue in the Book of Mormon is Nephi’s omission of the people whom the Lehites undoubtedly met upon arrival. (See “Excursus: Geography and the Book of Mormon,” following 1 Nephi 18.) Many inferences from the text demonstrate the presence of indigenous peoples in the Book of Mormon. Knowing that there will be a future population, however, suggests Nephi’s prescience in making this observation about the conquest of Canaan. Of course Nephi is writing this record after the fact, but the example he selects and the parallel between his family and the Israelite exodus reveals that Nephi is concerned for his family’s collective righteousness. They too must enter an already populated land, just like the Israelites. Nephi similarly gave a prescient argument from scripture before he recovered the brass plates by slaying Laban. (See commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 4:2–3.)