1
Ne 13:30 the mixture of thy seed, which are among
thy brethren
The
context of verse 30 is that the Americans would not utterly destroy the native
American Indians, described by Nephi as the mixture
of thy seed, which are among thy brethren. But how could NephiĄ¯s seed be
alive in the 18th & 19th centuries? The simplified
version of history records that the Lamanites killed the Nephites in about 385
AD. However, the Book of Mormon record states that there were Lamanites among
the Nephites and Nephites among the Lamanites. These had chosen their allegience
based on religious and political lines and not racial lines. Therefore, it
should not be surprising that the promise was given to Nephi that some of his
seed would be preserved even after the final destruction of the Nephites. This
means that some Nephites who had defected to the Lamanite side would merge with
Lamanite society (see Alma 45:13) and the blood of Nephi would be preserved.
Mormon
records that some Nephites had been mixed with the Lamanites, And they (the records) have
been handed down from one generation to another by the Nephites, even until
they have fallen into transgression and have been murdered plundered, and
hunted, and driven forth, and slain, and scattered upon the face of the earth,
and mixed with the Lamanites until they are no more called the Nephites,
becoming wicked, and wild, and ferocious, yea, even becoming Lamanites
(Hel 3:16). MoroniĄ¯s statement that after the final great battle that the
Lamanites put to death every Nephite that will not
deny the Christ (Mor 1:2) implies that
there were Nephites who preserved their lives by denying the Christ and joined
the Lamanite society.