People
Nephi Lehison Nephi, son of Lehi: narrator and author; the obedient younger son who obtains the plates, builds the ship, receives the great vision, and founds the people of Nephi
Lehi the founding prophet-patriarch; dreamer of the tree of life; his final blessings fill 2 Nephi 1–4
Jacob Lehison Jacob, son of Lehi: firstborn in the wilderness; consecrated priest; the second voice of 2 Nephi and author of the Book of Jacob, to whom the angel reveals the name Christ
Sherem the record's first doctrinal antagonist: "there should be no Christ"; confounded, confessing, dead
Enos Jacobson Enos, son of Jacob: the wrestle before God, the widening prayer, and the covenant that the records will reach the Lamanites
Mosiah (the first) warned to flee the land of Nephi; discovers Zarahemla; interprets the stone "by the gift and power of God"
King Benjamin the seam-figure: wields the sword of Laban, receives the small plates, establishes peace
Mormon the record's editor, in his own voice: finds the small plates and keeps them "for a wise purpose"
Laman & Lemuel the two eldest sons; the recurring pattern of rebellion, ending in the separation
Sariah Lehi's wife; a mother's fear turned to testimony
Sam the quietly faithful brother, whose seed is numbered with Nephi's
Zoram Laban's servant, folded into the family by oath; blessed as "a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever"
Ishmael the household that provides the wives; buried at Nahom
Laban keeper of the brass plates, slain to obtain them
Abinadi the lone prophet to Noah's court: the interrupted Decalogue, Isaiah 53 read whole, his words sealed by death in fire
Zeniff the over-zealous returner to the land of Nephi; his first-person record of two Lamanite wars; father of Noah
King Noah taxes, priests, towers, and vineyards; burns Abinadi, and dies by fire as Abinadi prophesied
Limhi Noah's just son, king in bondage under tribute; receives Ammon, covenants with God, escapes by Gideon's plan
Alma the Elder Noah's priest who believed Abinadi; founder of the church at the waters of Mormon; leads his people through bondage in Helam
Alma the Younger the persecutor of the church turned prophet: the angel, the conversion, the first chief judge
Mosiah II Benjamin's son: seer and translator of the twenty-four plates, the record's last Nephite king, architect of the reign of judges
Gideon the king's captain turned deliverer: corners Noah on the tower, engineers Limhi's escape
Ammon of Zarahemla the strong and mighty leader of the expedition that finds Limhi's people
Amulek the second witness at Ammonihah: the angel's commission, the Zeezrom duel, the infinite-atonement discourse to the Zoramites
Zeezrom the bribing accuser converted: trembling, fever, healing on his faith, and a preacher from that time forth
Korihor the only figure the text labels "Anti-Christ": the no-prophecy doctrine, the demanded sign, struck dumb, trodden down
Ammon, son of Mosiah the kingship refused for a fourteen-year mission: Lamoni's servant, Sebus, the psalm of holy boasting
Aaron, son of Mosiah the Middoni prison, and the king who prayed "I will give away all my sins to know thee"
Captain Moroni chief captain at twenty-five: the title of liberty, the fortifications, the epistle of condemnation
Helaman Almason Helaman, son of Alma: the testament's recipient and keeper of the records; the two thousand sons' captain and chronicler
Amalickiah the record's most elaborated antagonist: the triple fraud, the blood-oath, death by Teancum's javelin
Corianton the testament's third addressee: Isabel, the three named worries, the restored ministry
Shiblon the steady son: bonds and stoning borne with patience; custodian of the sacred things between his father and his nephew
Pahoran the third chief judge: the king-men crisis, the exile at Gideon, and the answer that refused anger
Teancum two night javelins, Amalickiah and Ammoron; slain in the second deed
Nephi Helamanson Nephi, son of Helaman: yields the judgment-seat to preach; the prison theophany, the garden-tower indictment, the Seantum script, the sealing power, the famine asked and reversed
Samuel the Lamanite the wall sermon entire: the four-hundred-years sentence, slippery treasures, the birth and death signs, the two deaths and the agency charter, the leap from the wall
Cited & Minor Figures Joseph (Lehi's son), Jeremiah, Zenock/Neum, Moses, John the Apostle, David & Solomon, the keepers of the plates (Jarom to Amaleki), Coriantumr, Moroni — and the Alma catalog: Nehor, Zerahemnah, Lehonti, Ammoron, Isabel, Hagoth, Lamoni and his father, Anti-Nephi-Lehi, and the four name-collisions (Jacob, Lehi, Laman, Zoram)
Peoples
The People of Ammon the buried-swords covenant, the 1,005 martyrs, Jershon, and the sons' counter-covenant
The Zoramites the Rameumptom election-liturgy, the cast-out poor, and the dissent that turned to war
Places
Jerusalem the doomed city the family leaves; its destruction confirmed, captivity and return prophesied
The Valley of Lemuel the first base camp by the Red Sea
Nahom where Ishmael was buried; the one place "which was called" by a name received, not given
Bountiful the fertile coast by the sea Irreantum, where the ship is built
The Promised Land the covenant destination, "choice above all other lands," "a land of liberty"
The Land of Nephi the settlement founded at the separation: the place Nephi, the temple, "after the manner of happiness" — then abandoned under Mosiah
Zarahemla the discovered land and people: a second exodus from Jerusalem, recordless; the union under Mosiah; the new center
The Waters of Mormon the fountain of pure water in the borders where Alma taught, baptized, and organized the church
Objects
The Brass Plates the record of the law and the prophets (incl. Isaiah and Joseph of Egypt) the family carries
The Liahona the brass ball/compass that guides by faith, carried into the new land
The Small Plates the record we are reading; commanded, made, and sealed across both books
The Ship built "not after the manner of men" to cross the sea
The Sword of Laban the fine blade by which the plates were obtained; pattern for many swords
The Title of Liberty the rent coat made a covenant standard: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom"
Concepts & Doctrines
Tree of Life / Love of God the central symbol of Lehi's dream and its cluster
Covenant & Gathering of Israel the Abrahamic promise, scattering and gathering, the second-time recovery
Opposition & Agency Lehi's discourse: "opposition in all things"; free to act and not to be acted upon
The Atonement / Plan of Redemption the infinite atonement, the two deaths, justice and mercy, grace
The Doctrine of Christ the text's own label: baptism, the Holy Ghost, press forward feasting on the word
The Coming Forth of Scripture the sealed book, the marvelous work, "A Bible! A Bible!", the voice from the dust
Zion across all three voices: fight not against Zion; the laborer in Zion; the false "all is well in Zion"
The Two Churches the church of the Lamb vs. the great and abominable church, and 2 Nephi's many-churches critique
The Messiah / Redeemer the prophesied Christ; his name revealed by an angel; the six-hundred-years marker
The Olive-Tree Allegory Zenos's tame olive tree = the house of Israel: grafting, scattering, the last pruning, the weeping Lord of the vineyard
Riches & Pride Jacob's first count: seek the kingdom of God before riches; riches for the naked, the hungry, the captive
Chastity & Marriage the one-wife commandment, the David/Solomon excuse rejected, the Lamanite family reversal
Bondage & Deliverance the book of Mosiah's master pattern: two peoples brought into bondage, humbled, and delivered
The Church of God founded at the waters of Mormon, reorganized in Zarahemla; authority to baptize, discipline, and the Lord's "this is my church"
Kings & Judges from Benjamin's ideal kingship through Noah's tyranny to Mosiah's case against kings and the voice of the people — and, in Helaman, the failure clause executing
Secret Combinations the corpus's own term (2 Nephi 9:9 onward): Kishkumen's oath, Gadianton's craft, the institutional protocol, the genealogy of the oaths, the capture of the government
Cited prophets (sources)
Isaiah the prophet on the brass plates; quoted at length (1 Nephi 20–21 = Isaiah 48–49; 2 Nephi 7–8 = Isaiah 50–52:2; 2 Nephi 12–24 = Isaiah 2–14)
Joseph of Egypt the patriarch whose brass-plates prophecy foretells Moses and the choice seer
Zenos the prophet of the olive-tree allegory (Jacob 5) and the crucifixion-signs prophecy (1 Nephi 19)
Analytical deep-dives (essays)
Intertextuality The Isaiah block (1 Nephi 20–21 / Isaiah 48–49), Nephi's commentary, dream-to-vision symbol glosses, Exodus typology
Literary Structures The vision Q&A scaffold, the resolve formula, the murmuring cycle, the dream-then-interpretation diptych
Theme — Tree of Life The full verse-by-verse treatment of the dream's symbolic cluster
Theme — Covenant & Gathering The Abrahamic covenant, the olive-tree figure, the Gentiles' double role
Theme — Two Churches Formation, definition, and prophesied collapse of the great and abominable church