Continuing with Chadwick’s article sent to us by one of our
readers, the “comments” are Chadwick’s writing regarding his belief in where
Lehi’s home and property were located, the “response” is our reply mostly based
on the scriptural record.
Comment: “Nephi taught his people to erect buildings and
work wood, using only general terms for those activities, but then he reports
specifically each type of metal he taught them to work in—iron, copper, brass,
steel, gold, silver, and other precious ores (2 Nephi 5:15). Not only does this
clearly indicate that Nephi himself is a metalsmith but serves as something of
a resumé of his varied smithing experience and abilities.”
Response: What Nephi said, was: “I did teach my people to
build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper,
and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores,
which were in great abundance” (2 Nephi 5:15). First of all, Chadwick’s comment
is that wood is a product, as is iron. Copper is a separate product, and is
brass, as is gold, as is silver, and other precious ores, though that is a
collective term. Within iron is pig-iron, cast iron, malleable iron, gray iron,
ductile iron, wrought iron; within wood is sycamore, walnut, beech, oak, maple,
mahogany, cherry, etc; within steel is carbon, alloy, tungsten, cobalt,
stainless, chromium, manganese, annealing, quenching, tempering, etc. Note that
in neither of these three products did Nephi delve into any details. Secondly,
Nephi’s first item was in building buildings, which is not a metalsmith’s work,
especially in 600 B.C. After that came “working in all manner of wood,” which
is definitely an occupational factor. After all, in 600 B.C. there were all
sorts of things that could be built from wood, including ships, boats, house
framing and roof supports, stairs, fences, floors, etc. On the other hand, iron
in the time of Lehi was basically used for weapons (swords, knives, daggers),
cutting tools, cooking pans, personal ornaments and pottery. Obviously, of the
two, wood-working would have been far more important and valuable. And, again,
with buildings first mentioned and wood second, it would seem that metallurgy
was not only less valuable, the verse certainly doesn’t suggest that metallurgy was
Nephi’s occupation.
Comment: “Nephi again mentions the two sets of metal plates
that he had personally made in order to write the two separate records he was
keeping. The thinness and uniformity of size of these plate collections would
require considerable skill in metallurgy and smithing.”
Response: It would require some experience working with
metals, as Nephi obviously had as shown within the spiritual record; however,
making metal plates of a similar consistency and thinness requires more
patience that metallurgical training. And since gold is so malleable, and pounding
gold into sheets is not the task Chadwick would have us believe.
Comment: “This ample evidence that Nephi and his father Lehi
were experienced in mining metallic ores and smithing a variety of precious and
utilitarian metals sheds light on a number of interesting questions often asked
about 1 Nephi. For example, why did Lehi and Nephi both seem to have been
competent in Egyptian language and writing as well as their native Hebrew? The
fact that Egypt was a primary center for gold trade could suggest that Lehi had
regularly traveled there to conduct gold business or procure gold supplies.”
Response: There is no evidence that Lehi knew anything about
metal working, let alone being a metallurgist. The fact is, Nephi made metal
tools (1 Nephi 17:9), and we have no evidence he made anything else out of iron
which, of course, would be needed to a new colony in the Land of Promise, and
out of steel, he made swords (2 Nephi 5:14) for the defense of his people. We
do not know that he taught his people regarding iron and steel to make anything
other than these. But if he did, it would probably have been farm tools,
especially for tilling (1 Nephi 18:24). We also need to consider something
Chadwick does not mention, and that is when Nephi’s steel bow broke (1 Nephi
16:18), he did not try to fix it or even fashion another metal bow—if he was
the metallurgist Chadwick claims, why did he not do so? After all, the welding
of two pieces of steel is a simple process, and there are many methods—at least
three of which were available to Nephi: 1) Melt two pieces (both ends of the
break), adding a “filler metal” in the joint to act as a binding agent, 2) Use pressure
to bind the metal together, and 3), A combination of both heat and pressure.
Had Nephi been the metallurgist Chadwick claims, he certainly could have
repaired his metal bow; however, instead, he made himself a wood bow (1 Nephi
16:18). Does that mean he was a carpenter by trade?
Comment: “Why did Lehi and Nephi seem to have readily known
the way from Jerusalem to the Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat) and back without the aid
of the Liahona, which they later needed in Arabia? The fact that copper ore was
mined in several locations near the Gulf of Eilat and in northern Sinai could
suggest that Lehi and Nephi had traveled to the region several times over the
years to obtain copper supplies and knew the route well prior to their permanent
departure from Jerusalem (1 Nephi 2).”
Egypt
obtained almost all of its copper from the Red Sea Hills, which are located on
the west side of the Red Sea, around Porst Sudan, just south of Egypt
Response: First of all, the Egyptians obtained their copper
from an area located on the other side (west) of the Red
Sea around the Port of Sudan; Solomon obtained his copper from the area of
Khirbet en-Nahas, which is in southern Jordan, near Petra, about 50 miles north
of Aqaba. Actually, copper mines in the north transported their copper to Aqaba
for additional working, but no copper was produced in and directly around
Aqaba.
The nearest
copper to Jerusalem was located at Khirbet en-Nahas, about 50 miles north of
Aqaba; the Egyptian copper mines were nowhere Lehi would have ever been. In
neither case would Lehi and sons traveled to Aqaba as Chadwick claims
Secondly, Lynn and Hope Hilton claim that Lehi traveled down
from Jerusalem with his donkeys to the King’s Highway to await the numerous
camel caravans that traveled out of Arabia to the trading destinations of
Damascus and the eastern Mediterranean, there he traded for goods to take up to
Jerusalem to sell to the many merchants operating there. The caravans could not
travel to Jerusalem because the shale like rock in the hills cut the camel’s
soft under-hooves. In doing so, Lehi could have amassed wealth, had reason to
deal with the Arabs, and later trade goods or convert exchange into gold with
the Egyptians. Whether he or his sons actually traveled down to Aqaba is
unknown. He would not have needed to do so in order to know it was there, how
to get there, and how to get beyond there to where he would later find the
Liahona, for travel southward to the Red Sea was through the Wadi al-Araba, a lowland area between hills between the Judean Hills (south of Jerusalem) to Ezion-gerber at Aqaba, and led nowhere else.
Upper Left: The wilderness of Judea at the south end of the Dead Sea; Other Images: The Wadi al-Araba (HaAravah,) meaning a "desolate dry area," is a section of the Jordan Rift Valley running in a north-south orientation between the southern end of the Sea of Galilee (as the Jordan river valley) down to the Dead Sea, and continuing further south where it ends at the Gulf of Aqaba. It was a very well known area in the ancient world and the only method of travel southward to Aqaba and the Red Sea. No Liahona was necessary for such travel
Travelers tend to be gregarious and it would be unusual for Lehi not
to have picked up knowledge in his dealings with the caravan merchants and the
Egyptians. This scenario provides us with Lehi’s contact with both the Arabs
(naming his two oldest Laman and Lemuel, Arab names), and the Egyptians (naming
his next two sons, Sam and Nephi, Egyptian names), how he got his wealth, the an occupation.
(See the next post, “Where did Lehi Live Before Departing
into the Wilderness? Part XIII,” for more of Chadwick’s comments regarding
where Lehi lived before he and his family went into the wilderness)
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