2 For it sufficeth me to say that we are descendants of Joseph, and with that Nephi summarizes the entirety of Lehi’s record. In the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, this chapter begins chapter two (1830 1 Ne 2). The theme of chapter one (1 Ne 1-5), which was likely the theme of Lehi’s record since Nephi is summarizing it (1 Ne 1:16), is that Lehi and his family are descendants of Joseph of Egypt, hence their mission is as Joseph’s was. Nephi now commences this new chapter by clarifying his intention for the remainder of his work (vs 4).
4 the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, as it was Mormon’s and Moroni’s and that of all the Book of Mormon writers, “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ” (Title Page, see also 1 Ne 9; 2 Ne 25:26; 33:10-11).
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, This phrase is intentional—it distinguishes their God from the tribal gods of the heathen nations around them. The scriptural background for the expression is an announcement to Moses as he gazed on the burning bush (Ex. 3:6).
5 the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, Mark Twain said the Book of Mormon was so boring it was “chloroform in print.” To be sure, many can’t get through it. In a sense it acts as a great sieve, hence its importance in the Gathering; but it’s not a sieve that separates the capable from the incapable, rather it seems to appeals most to those who are anxious to be closer to God, in particular, through Jesus the Christ. And as we become less “of the world,” the book appeals to us more and more. It’s a force to be reckoned with, as Hugh Nibley once noted,
“In the reading of the Book of Mormon no one is ever doing something he shouldn’t be doing. Most of the time he would be doing probably the best thing he could possibly be doing. If it is not itself the best thing to be doing, it will quickly put you onto the best thing to be doing because it will have a direct effect on you. It will change you; it will work on you. It is a personal, intimate document. It will hit you. You can’t just read the Book of Mormon and nothing else. It immediately puts you on the high road to what you should be doing, like no other book. And it will lead you directly into a course of thought or a course of action of the greatest significance to yourself and to the world you live in…Oh, what would we do without the Book of Mormon! (Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 1:2)
6 they shall not occupy these plates with things that are of no worth, Nephi’s descendants are remarkably obedient to his instructions. A comparison of the small-plate material (1 Nephi–Omni) with that which remains of the large plates (Mosiah–4 Nephi) shows that the large plates contain a tremendous amount of material on wars and contentions, virtually none of which appears in the small plates. The truly historical information contained in the small plates is limited to 1 Nephi, where it provides the framework for the more important spiritual story, and Omni, where the historical data explains why Nephi’s descendants relinquished the records. In between, they record almost exclusively things of the spirit (or, as in Omni, their lack of relevant spiritual experiences to record).
“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (Joseph Smith, HC 4:461.)
Holy Envy 