Lehi's Burnt Offering and Thank Offering

[Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum Doug Christens]

August 30, 2015

by Brant Gardner 

Nephi records three instances where Lehi offered sacrifices. These are occasions where the text assumes information that went without saying to an ancient Israelite, but which most modern readers would not even notice. S. Kent Brown points out that both the sacrifices noted in 1 Nephi 5:9 and 7:22 characterize the sacrifice as including burnt offerings—but not this first altar. For all three occasions (arriving at the initial base camp, the return of the sons with the brass plates, and the return of the sons with Ishmael’s family), thanks were the appropriate response to a safe return from a journey. For two sacrifices, an important difference explains the addition of the burnt offerings to the thank offering. The potential presence of sin accompanied two of the occasions, and burnt offerings were part of the process of removing the stain of such sin. In the first of the two later occasions, Nephi and brothers return from Jerusalem with the plates, but also carrying the blood guilt of Nephi’s murder of Laban. Even though he had acted under inspiration, the act of shedding human blood required the burnt offering noted in 1 Nephi 5:9. When Lehi’s sons returned from the second trip to Jerusalem, bringing Ishmael’s family, Laman and Lemuel’s physical attack on Nephi constituted the sin requiring the burnt offering noted in 1 Nephi 7:22. In contrast, their mere arrival in safety was a thank-offering for their successful journey. No perceived communal sin pertained to that part of the journey. 

Traditions of the Fathers: Book of Mormon as History  Greg Kofford Books, 2015, Box 1362, Draper, Utah 84020, Chapter three

Articles Published on the BMAF website in August:

August 2015

• Additional Truth and the Proof: River Sidon Ran North, Not South  by  Andersen, Joe V.
• Answers to Letter Questions and Concerns  by  Larsen, Ryan
• Examining the Heartland Hypothesis as Geography  by  Gardner, Brant A.
• Remarkable Book of Mormon Evidences Hidden in Plain Sight: More Hebraic Patterns in The Book of Mormon  by  Heater, Shirley R.
• The Environment of the Lehites in the New World Land of Promise  by  Bennett, Warren
• The Importance of Locating the Jaredites  by  Stoddard, Ted Dee and Christensen, Doug
• The Narrow Strip of Wilderness Was Mountainous  by  Andersen, Joe V.
• The Treaty Line of AD 350: Its Paramount Geographic Importance  by  Andersen, Joe V.
• Warfare Arenas and Their Implications for Book of Mormon Geography  by  Gray, David