Notes and Communications: "My First-Born in the Wilderness" John
A. Tvedtnes In their book, Fathers and Sons in the Book of
Mormon,1 E. Douglas and Robert S. Clark maintain that Lehi named
his sons Jacob and Joseph after their distant ancestors, in much
the same manner that Helaman the younger named his sons Lehi and
Nephi (Helaman 5:5–7). The fact that Lehi referred to the
patriarchal founder of his tribe when blessing his own son
Joseph lends credence to this idea (2 Nephi 3). But there seems
to be more to the story. Lehi called Jacob "my first-born in the
days of my tribulation in the wilderness" (2 Nephi 2:1–2). The
tribulations Lehi suffered in the wilderness were brought on
principally by the disobedience of Laman and Lemuel (1 Nephi
2:11–13, 18, 21; 3:5, 28; 7:6–7, 16–19; 15:2–5; 16:20, 22,
35–39; 17:17–22, 45). The use of the term "first-born" implies
that Lehi may have considered Jacob to be a replacement for his
eldest son, Laman, with his younger son, Joseph, being a
replacement for the second son,