1 Nephi 17:5-6

Brant Gardner

As with other places, with the exception of Nahom, the family gives this location a name. After years of difficult travel through a wilderness, they arrive on a coast which abounded in fruit and wild honey. Although Nephi tells little of the journeys themselves, the contrast between the privations before arriving in this new location were so remarkable that Nephi probably could not help but mention it. They call the place Bountiful, a name that will be used again much later in the Nephite history, but without any known reference to this Bountiful, which is clearly named for its abundance after lack. Nephi’s statement that “we were exceedingly rejoiced” is probably an understatement upon arriving in a land which supplied so much after their time in a land that supplied so little.

There is no known etymology for Irreantum. The Book of Mormon Onomasticon (a database of possible meanings for Book of Mormon names) lists four possibilities, but does not appear to endorse any of the four.

Nephi does not mention that they realized that they must continue their journey by crossing those great waters. He simply indicates that the journey is over by stating that they have pitched their tents on the seashore.

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