Lehi (Book of Mormon prophet)

Lehi
Lehi is depicted with a long beard, a turban-like head covering, and long flowing robes all over his body down to his ankles. He wears sandals. With his left hand he gestures/points, gesturing toward something he sees beyond the borders of the artwork. His right hand is held slightly aloft, at about the level of his waist. He stands on a rounded surface, perhaps the crest of a hill.
Lehi in The Promised Land (September 1925)
Personal
SpouseSariah
Children
Known forTree of life vision

According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi (/ˈliːhaɪ/ LEE-hy)[1] was a prophet who lived in Jerusalem during the reign of King Zedekiah (approximately 600 BC).[2] In First Nephi, Lehi is rejected for preaching repentance and he leads his family, including Sariah, Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi, into the wilderness. He sends his sons back to recover the plates of brass and once more for the family of Ishmael. As they travel, Lehi has a vision of the tree of life in which most of his family, excepting Laman and Lemuel, accepts God. He also prophesies Christ's coming 600 years in the future.

Lehi has two sons in the wilderness before they arrive at the ocean, where Nephi is directed to build a boat. They cross the sea, and Lehi and Sariah become sick because of Laman and Lemuel's rebellion. Before he dies, Lehi blesses his sons and their families.

Lehi likely had daughters in addition to his named sons and has been compared to Moses both in his calling as a prophet and leadership of an exodus. He may have made two different kinds of sacrifices, namely peace offerings and burnt offerings, based on the Book of Mormon text and Old Testament descriptions. It is noted that Lehi claimed the land his family landed on despite others already living there. Some religious scholars speculate, based on travel time, that Lehi and his family received assistance from nearby tribes as they travelled, possibly in return for work or even servitude. Others compare the pointed mentioning of Lehi's tent to scriptural connections between tents and temples. Lehi's record is claimed to have been contained in the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon translation. One phrase of his has been compared to a quote from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, with some suggesting Joseph Smith took it from the play and others suggesting a precedent of similar phrasing around Lehi's time.

He is the namesake of the modern-day city of Lehi, Utah[3] and has been depicted in many fiction and non-fiction books, movies, and works of art.

  1. ^ churchofjesuschrist.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from «lē´hī»
  2. ^ 1 Nephi 1:5
  3. ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 184.