Observations on Book of Mormon geography

From the time the Nephites move to the land of Zarahemla in Omni 1:12 and until the coming of Christ in 3rd Nephi, the Book of Mormon geography is consistently and repeatedly describing several cities and areas and even their relative locations.

For instance, the city of Gideon is first mentioned in Alma 6:7. We learn that it is named after a person who is first introduced in Mosiah 19 and it is mentioned again in Alma 30:21, Alma 62:3 and Helaman 13:15, each time indicating that the city is close to the city of Zarahemla.

In particular in the "war chapters" in the last part of Alma we learn the names of many Nephite cities, which in many cases are repeated. It might be reasonable to expect another repetition of those city names in 3rd Nephi 9, where the voice of Christ laments the destroyed cities. But apart from the cities of Zarahemla, Moroni and Jerusalem, we only hear of new city names, like Onihah, Mocum, Gidiandi, etc. After that, the Book of Mormon geography doesn't seem quite the same. There are a lot of new city names in Mormon as well. What is the explanation for this?

First of all, it is important to note that the record keepers from Mosiah-1 to Nephi-3 all lived in Zarahemla. The record is written from their point of view and the events are typically described in the land southward. Whenever someone goes to the land northward (that is north of the narrow neck of land), they disappear from the record. For instance, we learn about migrations to the north in Alma 63:4 and Helaman 3:3, but we don't know much about what happens to these people. In the case of Helaman 3, Mormon even states that they also kept records, but they are apparently separate from the records Mormon is abridging from.

Secondly, when Jesus speaks to the Nephites, the point of view has shifted. It would not make sense if he only spoke to the people in the land southward because we know there where Nephites also in the land northward. In fact, "there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward", which likely caused the destruction of even more cities, -cities we have not yet heard of.

When Jesus comes, he comes to the land Bountiful which is by the narrow pass, between the land northward and the land southward. The city of Zarahemla has been destroyed by fire, so the record keepers are not living there anymore. Even though it's rebuilt in 4th Nephi 1:8, the record keeprs don't seem to live there. The last record keeper in 4th Nephi hides the records in the land Antum, north of Bountiful. Mormon is originally from the land northward. (Notice how he is carried into the land southward when he is 11 years old in Mormon 1:7). Later as a war captain his armies are driven to the "north countries" (Mormon 2:3) and we again learn new city names like Boaz, Jashon and Shem. There is no more Gideon, Mulek or Ammonihah. Which is also expected, because the point of view has been shifted from record keepers in the land of Zarahemla to Mormon who is trying to withstand the Lamanite army in the hitherto unknown land northward.

Much can be said about consistency in the Book of Mormon geography, but these observations show that even when things don't seem to make sense on the surface, a deeper study reveals geographical consistency all the way throughout the book.

Gideon, another example of internal consistency (and possibly Hebrew wordplay) in the Book of Mormon

If we simply compare all the mentions of the name Gideon in the Book of Mormon, we quickly discover that the name can either refer to a place or a person.  In this post, we'll compare these references to see if they are internally consistent. We'll also explore the meaning of the name, since it seems that Mormon enjoyed inserting Hebrew wordplay into the text of the Book of Mormon, particularly when first mentioning a new figure.

Gideon the Man

We first notice this name in the context of the wicked king Noah in the land of Nephi, in Mosiah 19:

4 And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.

It is remarkable to me that the first mention of the name Gideon introduces him in a way that fits the meaning of his name so well--Gideon means "hewer, feller, he that cuts down."

Gideon is instrumental in helping the Nephites who follow King Limhi escape from bondage. That plan is introduced by Gideon in Mosiah 22:3-9. They trick their guards into getting drunk and then sneak away in the night.

We don't encounter the name again for awhile, after that group has escaped bondage and returned to the land of Zarahemla. This time, he is older and is a teacher for the newly established church of God, but still bold and aggressive (from Alma 1):

7 And it came to pass as he was going, to preach to those who believed on his word, he met a man who belonged to the church of God, yea, even one of their teachers; and he began to contend with him sharply, that he might lead away the people of the church; but the man withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God.
8 Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was an instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage.
9 Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword.

Live by the sword die by the sword, I guess.  Gideon as hewer and hewee?

Gideon the Place

In Alma 2:20, we first encounter Gideon as a place-name:

20 And it came to pass that when Alma could pursue the Amlicites no longer he caused that his people should pitch their tents in the valley of Gideon, the valley being called after that Gideon who was slain by the hand of Nehor with the sword; and in this valley the Nephites did pitch their tents for the night.

We learn in verse 17 that these battles are taking place on a hill east of the river Sidon. Keep that in mind.

Alma-2's highly successful mission to Gideon

Four chapters (and four years) later, Alma-2 has given up the judgment seat and devoted his time to the ministry.  He gives a masterful sermon (found in Alma chapter 5) to the people of Zarahemla, and then (in Alma 6) he continues his travels:

7 And now it came to pass that when Alma had made these regulations he departed from them, yea, from the church which was in the city of Zarahemla, and went over upon the east of the river Sidon, into the valley of Gideon, there having been a city built, which was called the city of Gideon, which was in the valley that was called Gideon, being called after the man who was slain by the hand of Nehor with the sword.

So by this time there is a city called Gideon in the valley called Gideon, and it is still east of the river Sidon. Of note, Alma establishes an "order of the church" for the people there (see Alma 8:1) and blesses them for their righteous choices (see Alma 7).

Korihor's highly unsuccessful mission to Gideon

The next significant mention of Gideon comes about 6 years later when we read about the anti-Christ preacher named Korihor (Alma 30).  He gets expelled out of the land of the people of Ammon and decides to try his luck in Gideon (from verse 21):

And he came over into the land of Gideon, and began to preach unto them also; and here he did not have much success, for he was taken and bound and carried before the high priest, and also the chief judge over the land.

He blasphemes in front of Giddonah, who delivers him to Zarahemla to meet with Alma.  It is worth noting that Zarahemla and Gideon are like twin cities, frequently mentioned in close proximity to each other.

Gideon in the war chapters

More than a decade (and 30 chapters) later, in the midst of a brutal war with the Lamanites, the chief judge Pahoran is ousted from Zarahemla by those Nephites who have allied with the Lamanites and re-established a king. (See this post for more details about that.) Where did Pahoran manage to flee?  Gideon. (See Alma 61:5.)

Moroni comes to the rescue in Alma 62. It is interesting to note that he is coming from the battle zones in the east and unites his armies with those of Pahoran in the valley of Gideon. Then the powerful combined army marches to Zarahemla and reclaims it. This fits the geography previously described--Gideon lies to the east of the river Sidon.

So what can we learn from all of this?  I see a few points worth mentioning.

1. The text of the Book of Mormon is complicated, intricate, and internally consistent. 
2. The author must have had notes. I do not believe the author of this text could have tracked all of these details across thousands of words and hundreds of unrelated names and details without notes.  There is no claim by witness to the translation process (friend or foe) that Joseph dictated from notes, made revisions to the text, or even had details read back to him.
3. Mormon was a fan of Hebrew wordplay.
4. Gideon was a real man and is presented in the text as faithful but aggressive/hot-tempered.
5. The valley named after him became an important city in the Nephite lands, and the text describes it consistently.

Ammonihah

The geography of the Book of Mormon is very consistently described. I described one example of this (elevation difference of the Lands of Nephi and the lands of Zarahemla and a wilderness in between) here. The city of Ammonihah offers us a great example of this.

In Alma 16, we read:

2 For behold, the armies of the Lamanites had come in upon the wilderness side, into the borders of the land, even into the city of Ammonihah, and began to slay the people and destroy the city.
3 And now it came to pass, before the Nephites could raise a sufficient army to drive them out of the land, they had destroyed the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, and also some around the borders of Noah, and taken others captive into the wilderness.

From these verses, we learn that Ammonihah is:

1. In the border area of the lands held by the Nephites.
2. Near the wilderness.
3. Near another area called Noah.

Compare this to what we read 33 chapters later, in Alma 49. In verse 1, we read that the Lamanites approach the city of Ammonihah again. In verse 3 we learn that the Nephites had rebuilt the city with a strong defensive wall after it was previously destroyed. In verse 10 we learn that the Lamanites lose interest in attacking Ammonihah due to the fortifications. So they retreat into the wilderness and then march to Noah instead (verse 12).

Consistent Geography in the Book of Mormon

"Go up" and "go down"

A person travels "down" to Zarahemla and "up" to the Land of Nephi:

1. Omni 1:13 -- Mosiah lead the Nephites "down" into the land of Zarahemla.
2. Mosiah 7:2, 3, 4 -- King Mosiah allows 16 men to "go up" to the land of Lehi-Nephi.
3. Mosiah 8:2 -- King Limhi asks Ammon to tell his people everything that had happened since his grandfather Zeniff "went up" out of Zarahemla.
4. Mosiah 9:3 -- Zeniff leads a group and "go[es] up" from Zarahemla to possess the lands of the Nephites' first inheritance.
5. Mosiah 20:7, 9 -- The Lamanite king send his armies "up" to the Land of Nephi from the wilderness to attack Limhi's people.
6. Mosiah 28:1, 5, 6, 7, 9 -- The sons of Mosiah desire to "go up" to preach to the Lamanites.
7. Mosiah 29:3 -- The people wanted Aaron as their king but he had "gone up" to the land of Nephi.
8. Alma 17:8 -- The sons of Mosiah "go up" to the land of Nephi.
9. Alma 27:8-9 -- Ammon convinced the King of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis to "go down" to Zarahemla to escape persecution from other Lamanites.
10. Alma 47:1 -- Amalickiah the Nephite dissenter loses a battle then flees into the wilderness and then "went up" to the land of Nephi.
11. Alma 49:10 -- If the Lamanite king had "come down" out of the land of Nephi with his army, they might have attacked despite the fortifications.
12. Alma 57:28 -- Nephites lead Lamanite prisoners "down" to Zarahemla. (See also verses 15, 16, 29, and 30.)

There is a wilderness between Zarahemla and the Land of Nephi that is thick enough for a person to become lost.

1. Omni 1:12 -- Mosiah lead the Nephites into the wilderness out of the land of Nephi.
2. Mosiah 7:4-5 -- Ammon and a group of 16 men wander in the wilderness for 40 days trying to find the descendants of Zeniff.
3. Mosiah 8:7 -- King Limhi sent 43 of his people into the wilderness to find Zarahemla bu they got lost and found the land of Desolation instead. (This is also referenced in Mosiah 21:25).
4. Mosiah 9:3-4 -- Zeniff's group journeys into the wilderness to the lands of their first inheritance.
5. Mosiah 18:4, 34 -- Alma-1 hides from King Noah by hiding in the borders of the lands. He is warned of the Lord to hide and departs into the wilderness.
6. Mosiah 22:8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 -- Ammon and King Limhi's people sneak into the wilderness by night and escape to the land of Zarahemla. Lamanites pursue them but get lost in the wilderness (these armies end up finding Alma and his people (see Mosiah 23:30).
7. Mosiah 23:1, 3 -- Alma and his people flee the armies of king Noah into the wilderness (8 days' journey).
8. Mosiah 24:20, 24, 25 -- Alma and his people escape from bondage and travel 12 days' journey to Zarahemla.
9. Alma 16:1 -- The Lamanites come into the borders of the land of Zarahemla from the wilderness side and destroy Ammonihah.
10. Alma 17:7, 9 -- The sons of Mosiah took weapons to provide food for themselves while in the wilderness on their way to preach to the Lamanites.
11. Alma 27:14 -- Ammon and the Anti-Nephi-Lehis travel through the wilderness to get to Zarahemla.
12. Alma 47:1 -- Amalickiah the Nephite dissenter loses a battle then flees into the wilderness and then "went up" to the land of Nephi.

A serialized response to John Hamer - Part 2b

We are still dealing with Hamer's claim that:

"The Book of Mormon is far simpler than it first appears".

We will consider another argument he uses to back up that claim:

"Although the text includes many characters and places, the author 

only had to have a few of each in his mind at any given time as 

he tells individual stories"

If I understand his argument correctly, Hamer is saying that it really doesn’t matter that there are 200 personal names, 100 geographical names and other intricate details in the Book of Mormon, because the text only uses a few of them at a time and the stories are disjointed in a way that the author can forget about these details after one story is finished.

I have previously created a document listing examples of internal consistency in the Book of Mormon where we see one part of the text referring to another. If what John Hamer is saying is true, then we wouldn’t expect these references to be very far apart and primarily be kept within a single story. To test this, let us go to a certain point in Joseph Smith’s dictation and see what he needs to remember at this point to provide a consistent text. I.e. what details are included in the text before this snapshot in Joseph's dictation that are in onw way or another referred to at some later poin and needs remembering. For this purpose, we assume that Joseph Smith has just finished dictating Alma 54 and is about to start dictating Alma 55.

At the end of Alma 54 we are in the middle of a long war between the Nephites and Lamanites, initiated by Nephite dissenters. At this point in the dictation, Joseph Smith needs to remember names and details which have been introduced prior to chapter 55 and will be referenced from chapter 55 and on. This includes:

·         The Nephite chief captain is Moroni

·         Helaman is the ecclesiastical leader, but in these times of war has also taken command over an army in another part of the land

·         Two other Nephite captains in this war are Lehi and Teancum

·         The Lamanite chief captain is Ammaron

·         The former chief captain and Ammaron’s brother was Amalickiah. He died in chapter 51 but must still be remembered because he is referred to later, in Alma 62:35.

·         The chief judge is Pahoran. He was introduced in chapter 50 but must be kept in mind as he returns to the narrative at the end of the war in Alma.

Although these are strange and unusual names for someone in 19^th century New York, you could argue that remembering these few names and details is manageable even without notes. This is probably what John Hamer has in mind when he says: “Although the text includes many characters and places, the author only had to have a few of each in his mind at any given time as he tells individual stories”. But to the observant reader, there is more details to this story that Joseph Smith must keep in mind. He needs to remember the following:

·         Alma 51:26 lists several cities which the Lamanites conquer. Since the recapturing of all of these except for one are described specifically later in the text, Joseph Smith must remember which those are. For instance, Alma 55 describes the recapturing of Gid and preparations to recapture Morianton, both cities listed in Alma 51:26.

·         It is not enough to remember Helaman and the 2000 stripling warriors. The background is given in Alma 53:13-15 (Helaman fearing for the souls of the people of Ammon as they almost break their covenant and their sons stepping up to the challenge because they have not covenanted). These details must also be remembered because they are repeated in the letter from Helaman to Moroni in Alma 56:7-8.

·         In Alma 51:24, when the Lamanites conquer the land of Moroni, they flee to the city of Nephihah and the people in the city of Lehi also gather there. This detail must be remembered, including the names of the cities involved because Alma 59:5 reminds the reader that the people in Nephihah are gathered from Moroni and Lehi.

·         In Alma 51:19, the king-men (Amalickiah’s followers) are “taken and cast into prison”. These dissenters are the reason for the war in the first place. But they are not brought up again until Alma 62:9, which contains a very subtle reference to the “king-men who had been taken and cast into prison” even though the war is over.

·         In Alma 50:34, the land Desolation is located in the north by the narrow pass. This is something the author must keep in mind because it is consistent with Alma 63:5 and Mormon 3:5.

·         Alma 22:27 and Alma 17:1 indicates that Manti is close to Zarahemla. This is also the case when Joseph Smith later dictates Alma 58.

·         In Alma 45:21, after the previous war, Helaman proclaimed the word of God because it was expedient “that a regulation whould be made throughout the church.” In Alma 62:44, after this next period of war, Helaman proclaimed the word of God because “it had become expedient that a regulation should be made again in the church.” The “again” in Alma 62:44 clearly refers to Alma 45:21.

These are all details related to the ongoing war in Alma 54 that the casual reader might miss but that Joseph Smith needs to remember while trying to dictate a coherent text with his face in a hat. I don’t think this is a trivial task at all. By the time he gets to the chapters referring to previous details, he has already introduced new details which need remembering. The stories are intertwined, not disjointed. For instance, chapters 56-58 contain an epistle by Helaman in the southwestern part of the land before we return to Moroni and his men in the eastern parts again. In the letter, several cities that the Lamanites conquer are listed in Alma 56:14 and the recapturing described later for some of them, which means those city names must be remembered too and cannot be mixed up with the cities in the eastern parts. In addition, new people like Antipus, Gid and Teomner are introduced.

Even though this is already getting complex, there is much more. There is still a list of things Joseph Smith has dictated prior to this war, but still need to be remembered because they are referred to at some later point. The list is based on the assumed order of Joseph Smith’s dictation after the loss of the 116 pages, where he started from Mosiah, dictated to the end of Moroni and then 1^st nephi to Words of Mormon.

·         Mosiah 1:10: “the people of Mosiah”. This refers to Mosiah I, who we learn about in Omni 1:12-19. (Note the same reference to “the people of Mosiah” in Omni 1:17). But Omni had not been dictated yet. This means that Mosiah I and his people were briefly referred to in the beginning of the dictation and then described in more detail at the very end of the dictation.

·         Mosiah 25:2: Mulek is mentioned for the first time. There is no mention of him again until a reference later in Helaman 6:10

·         Mosiah 28:19: “And this account shall be written hereafter”. Refers to the account of the Jaredites which is not given until the Book of Ether.

·         Mosiah 29:46: “making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.” This is the start of the reign of the judges. But this little detail must be remembered because it is needed for 3^rd Nephi 1:1 to add up: “Now it came to pass that the ninety and first year [since the start of the reign of the judges] had passed away and it was six hundred years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem”. 509+91=600, which is also consistent with the 600-year prophecy given later when Joseph Smith dictated 1^st Nephi 10:4.

·         Alma 3:6 talks about Nephi, Sam, Jacob and Joseph, the righteous sons of Lehi. Only Nephi is mentioned again in the rest of the BoM. Keep in mind that Joseph Smith started dictating from Mosiah. When Sam, Jacob and Joseph are introduced later in 1^st Nephi, their names had been mentioned only once, more than 100 chapters ago, and had to match.

·         Alma 6:7 indicates that the cities of Zarahemla and Gideon are close to each other. Joseph Smith must remember this when he later dictates Alma 61:5 and Helaman 13:12-15.

·         Alma 33:15: The prophet Zenock is mentioned for the first time in the dictation. He must be ‘remembered’ at Helaman 8:20, which is the second time he is mentioned.

·         Alma 37:21: Alma is talking about the 24 plates that Limhi’s people found. This detail must be remembered later in Ether 1:2, because another reference is made to the number of plates there

·         Helaman 5:9 refers to something specific that King Benjamin said in Mosiah 3:17

·         Helaman 5:10 refers to something that occurred many chapters earlier in Alma 11:34. If Joseph Smith is inventing this, he must remember the names of those involved (Amulek and Zeezrom), where it occurred (the city of Ammonihah) and what was said (Christ would not save his people in their sins)

·         Helaman 5:21: “even in that same prison in which Ammon and his brethren were cast by the servants of Limhi”. This refers to an event in Mosiah 7.

·         Helaman 6:25: Mormon comments on one of Alma’s specific commandments to his son. This is a reference to Alma 37:21-29.

·         Helaman 14:12 contains a word for word quote of King Benjamin by Samuel the Lamanite: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning” is the exact same wording as in Mosiah 3:8

·         3.Nephi 5:12 is referring to the land of Mormon, which has not been mentioned since Alma 21:1. We are used to this name of course, but at this point in the dictation, there has not been one instance of the personal name, Mormon yet. In this verse, Mormon who abridges the records, introduces himself for the first time and makes a reference to the land of Mormon by saying he is named after it.

·         3.Nephi 12:26: The English translation of the corresponding verse in Matthew 5:26 (Sermon on the Mount) is usually using penny, farthing or similar depending on the translation. In this verse, Jesus is using the Nephite currency, senine. This was introduced in Alma 11 and has only been used once since then, in Alma 30:33. As explained in Alma 11, a senine is the lowest value (smallest piece of gold) and it therefore makes sense as a Nephite substitute for “penny”.

·         Ether 1:3: The first part of the Jaredite record contains the creation account and the history from Adam to the tower of Babel. This detail was also described in Mosiah 28:17

·         Ether 12:13-17 refers to several previous people and events in the Book of Mormon, several of them prior to Alma 55 (the point in Joseph Smith dictation which is our starting point for this list)

·         Ether 15:33 talks about the people of Limhi finding the Jaredite records. This detail is found in Mosiah, but has not been mentioned since Mosiah 28:11

·         1.Nephi 1:8: Lehi sees “God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God”. Notice the exact same wording in Alma 36:22 when Alma says he saw the same as Lehi. Alma is of course the one referring to Lehi, but Joseph Smith first dictates the reference, then the original event that is referred to.

·         1.Nephi 4:35: Here we are introduced to Zoram. However, in the process of Joseph Smith’s dictation, this same Zoram has already been mentioned once in Alma 54:23. Hence, just like Nephi’s brothers, Zoram and the story of him coming along with Nephi out of Jerusalem must have been known about before Joseph Smith dictated this part.

·         1.Nephi 16:10: This is where Lehi finds Liahona outside his tent. Following Joseph Smith’s order of dictation, however, a reference to Liahona has already been made in Alma 37. Consequently, Joseph Smith dictates the Liahona story long after a reference to it.

·         1.Nephi 19:10-12: Nephi is quoting and paraphrasing the prophesies of Zenos about the natural disasters and darkness at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. This is consistent with 3.Nephi 10:14-16, which states that Zenos and Zenock in particular “spake concerning these things”.

·         Omni 1:28-30: This describes two groups from Zarahemla going to the land of Nephi. The first group was unsuccessful and returned to Zarahemla. As for the other group, nothing was heard of them again in that generation from the perspective of someone living in Zarahemla, like Amaleki. This is consistent with the information we get in Mosiah 9, where we can read a more detailed account.

·         Words of Mormon 1:12-13,18: Mormon talks about a period of contentions and wars in King Benjamin’s days, after which he manages to establish peace. This ties in neatly with Mosiah 1:1, a verse which Joseph Smith had dictated about 2.5 months earlier and completes the circle.

This is a pretty long list, and even though there are many more internal references in the Book of Mormon, this list is limited to what Joseph Smith needs to remember at the end of Alma 54, because he has already dictated these things and will later refer to them. The alternative is that Joseph Smith forgets about it and instead studies the half-finished manuscript to find these details and bring them up when he needs to refer to them. The problem with that argument is that many of these details don’t need reference, i.e. the natural progression of events does not force Joseph Smith to look these up at a certain point. Many of them are subtle details whose existence the casual reader has long forgotten. For instance, when Joseph Smith dictates Helaman 5:21, he doesn’t have to say that the prison Lehi and Nephi were cast into was the same prison that Ammon was cast into. Yet he does. So it is clear that this is a detail that the Book of Mormon author is already aware of.

My personal opinion is that those who think Joseph Smith made this up and kept all these details straight and even argue that it’s not that difficult, do not understand the complexity of the Book of Mormon and grossly underestimate the difficulty of dictating a book in one single draft. In fact, I highly doubt that John Hamer and those who agree with him are aware of all these details listed above. Consequently, if Joseph Smith made this up, he knew the Book of Mormon text much better than them already at the time when he first dictated it! How can that be?

Keep in mind that this is still just a snapshot of Joseph Smith’s dictation at the time he had just finished Alma 54. At another time, say 3^rd Nephi 19, the list would look different so he would have another set of details to remember, some overlapping with the Alma 54 list. One might argue that I chose Alma 54 because that is the most complex part resulting in the longest list of things to remember. I admit it might be one of the hardest ones because it is in the middle of a war with many city names etc to keep track of (I haven’t even listed all of them here), and I chose it to make a point of it. But I would argue that the most difficult part is not at this point in Alma but rather between Ether 1 and 6. Here Joseph Smith would need to remember the whole genealogy in Ether 1, that is 30 names, unfamiliar for the most part, in the right order, because he is telling the story of all these generations from Ether 6 and on and it is 100% consistent. Other details from the Book of Mormon dictated before Ether 6 and repeated after Ether 6 also come in addition, for instance several items from the list above would still apply.

In any case, it should be obvious that John Hamer’s claim that Joseph Smith would only need to have a few characters and places in his mind at any given time as he tells individual stories, does not hold up to scrutiny. In his presentation, this argument is made on the slide with the heading: “The Book of Mormon text is far simpler than it first appears.” Many of the items on my list of things Joseph Smith would need to keep track of, are definitely not something that easily “appear” upon the first reading. Hence, I would argue that it’s quite the opposite. The complexity of the Book of Mormon is there but you need to study it in-depth to see it. That’s why I would reverse John Hamer’s statement and argue that the Book of Mormon text is far more complex than it first appears.

1 Nephi 2:4

A subtle detail can be found in verse 4:

4 And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.

Lehi's house and the land of his inheritance were not the same thing.

Alma 10:3 states Lehi was from Manassah, which was one of the northern tribes who lost their land in 720 BC and later regained access to it on heritage grounds. His house was in Jerusalem, where some displaced Israelites had taken up residence after the loss of the northern kingdom. This becomes more clear in 1 Nephi 3:16, when Nephi and his brothers "go down" from Jerusalem (elevation 2474') to the land of their inheritance to collect riches in an effort to purchase the plates from Laban.