The 3 Nephites. The stuff of Mormon urban legend. Those mysterious flat tire changing, official protectors of Missionaries from all killers serial and otherwise, hitchhiking deliverers of truth are a command element in Mormon lore, but they are 3 real translated people. Who are they? What are their names? Are there clues in the text of the Book of Mormon that might help to answer these questions? There is only so much to mull over in the Book of Mormon on this subject, and I’m sure I’m not the first person to examine these details, so if you have anything to add or take away please post a comment below.
The Book of 3rd Nephi starts 600 year from when Lehi left Jerusalem or A.D. 1. At this time “[...] Nephi, the son of Helaman, had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, giving charge unto his son Nephi, who was his eldest son, concerning the plates of brass, and all the records which had been kept [...]” (3 NE 1: 2). This means that at A.D.1 Nephi the son of Nephi, the son of Helaman (I’ll call him 3rd Nephi) was old enough to take charge of the records. I’d say that this meant that he had to be at the very very least 10 years old and probably about 24 years old or older. I get these guesstimates from Mormon 1: 2-3 where Mormon takes charge of the records and even though Ammaron tells Mormon that he will take charge of the records when Mormon is 10, Ammaron make Mormon wait until he is about 24 years old before he can actually begin keeping the record, which might serve as a guidepost as to what age is old enough to take charge of the Nephite record according to their time and customs. But Nephi, the son of Helaman was old enough to be retiring (if I might put it that way) when his oldest son, 3rd Nephi, was given charge of the records, so at this time 3rd Nephi could have been easily 24 or order.
33 or 34 years later (see chapter footer) in 3 NE 28: 1-12 Jesus ask his 12 Disciples “What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?” 9 of them responded “We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man [...] that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom.” Jesus replied “[...] after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest.”
3 of the Disciple, known as the 3 Nephites, had a different request. “[Jesus] turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father? And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired.” It would appear that as Jesus spoke with his Disciples here that the 3 were apart from the other 9 by themselves because Jesus had to “turned himself unto” them. And the 3 must have been discussing together (at some point) what is was they wanted because all 3 seem to agree together on what they wanted, but they were hesitant to say what it was. “And [Jesus] said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts [...] Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men [...].”
3 NE 19: 4 lists the names of the original Nephite 12 Disciples, 3 of which are the infamous 3 Nephites—but which three? Mormon was going to write their names, “but the Lord forbade” him from doing so (3 NE 28: 25). I do not know who the 3 Nephites are—if I did know I wouldn’t be saying anything, but I just think it’s fun (for lack of a less girly word) that if you really dig into the text you can make a guess about who the 3 Nephites are that is based on slightly more then nothing.
3rd Nephi seems to be the chief Apostle and was likely one the oldest: being at very least in the area of 44 years old when Christ appeared to the Nephites and likely 58 years old or older at that time. So if 3rd Nephi was taken home to the paradise of God at 72 years old, then it should have happened between about 48 A.D. and 62 A.D.. This time period is covered in 4 NE 1: 6-13 and there is no mention of 3rd Nephi being taken home to God.
The verse following the time period in which 3rd Nephi would have died (if he died) says: “And it came to pass that the seventy and first year passed away, and also the seventy and second year, yea, and in fine, till the seventy and ninth year had passed away; yea, even an hundred years had passed away, and the disciples of Jesus, whom he had chosen, had all gone to the paradise of God, save it were the three who should tarry [...]” (4 NE 1: 14).
This is the only mention of any of the 9 Disciples being taken home and they’re all lumped together after 100 A.D., which is way after the youngest would have been taken home. Even if one of the 9 was called to be a disciple at 8 days old, he still would have been taken home around A.D. 72. And when you read these verses it is seems like the mention of their being taken home is strategically place to obscure clues about when each of the 9 were taken home, which in turn obscures a view of who the 3 Nephites might have been, which otherwise could have been found by process of elimination. But it is interesting to note that virtually everywhere else in the Book of Mormon when the one who keeps the record dies and/or passes on the record to the next this is recorded—but here the mention of 3rd Nephi passing on the record to 4th Nephi is suspiciously missing.
A few verses later now in A.D. 111 we read “And it came to pass that Nephi, he that kept this last record, (and he kept it upon the plates of Nephi) died [...]” (4 NE 1: 19). At a quick glance it may appear that this verse is recording the death of 3rd Nephi; thus this verse must preclude 3rd Nephi from being one of the 3 Nephites. But based on the date (A.D. 111) this death is clearly the death of 3rd Nephi’s son or 4th Nephi or Nephi “Who Is the Son of Nephi—One of the Disciples of Jesus Christ” as the header to the book of 4th Nephi puts it.
So what does all this mean? Well, not a whole lot, but there are a few clues. The 3 Nephites seemed to be 3 of the 12 listed in 3 NE 19: 4 that would naturally gravitate together—I’m basing this assumption on 3 Ne 28 when the 3 who would become the 3 Nephites were separate from the other 9 and agreeing privately that they wanted something different from Jesus. And the only clue as to which might gravitate together are some family relationships that are mentioned. A second clue is that if any given Disciple was one of the 3 that was to tarry, then his passing away would not be mentioned. I’ll let what I’ve written suffice with out spelling it out too much. And as I really dug into the text the only thing I’m sure about is that Mormon and Nephi did a good job of obscuring the identities of the 3 Nephites.
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