There seems to be a general assumption among Book of Mormon readers that when the Lehites’ ship landed, the Promised land was a desolate vista void of any civilizations or indigenous people. A more careful reading of the Book of Mormon gives several clues and indications that this was not the case.

The first recorded instance of Lehites interacting with external people is found in Jacob chapter 7, where we meet Sherem. Sherem is numbered among the villains and anti-Christs of the Book of Mormon, but if we carefully analyze the details of his story, we learn much more about him and his circumstances than we might initially expect.

First, we should consider the chronology up to this point to give ourselves a time frame reference. At this point, Jacob is the leader, but we may assume that he is in the sunset of his tenure. Jacob was born in the Arabian wilderness after Lehi and his family left Jerusalem, so we may assume that that majority of Jacob’s lifespan has transpired since the Lehite landing. It would be reasonable to assume that Jacob is a grandfather at this point, or at least that a third generation is emerging. In the meantime, the Nephites have split from the Lamanites and established themselves in a separate community, the “Land of Nephi.” The Nephite community then, would be, given an even split between Nephites and Lamanites, about half of the Lehite family. So it is fair to infer that the Nephite population is still rather small, and presumable quite tight-knit at this point. Any numerical guess of the population is probably as good as the next, but it is doubtful that the Nephites number over a few hundred. Given the cooperative nature of rural, agricultural, and developmental communities, it would additional be reasonable to say that everyone was more or less familiar with everyone else.

White the Nephites were developing in their community, the Lamanites were also turning into a distinct culture. We learn that:

“…their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a bloodthirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.” (Enos 20)

If a Lamanite were to encounter a Nephite, it seems quite clear that he would attack and kill, or at least capture him, or in some other means express violence and hatred.

With this sociological framework in mind, let us consider the story of Sherem, and determine if he fits the description of either a Nephite or a Lamanite at this point in time. Jacob 7 begins:

“And now it came to pass after some years had passed away, there came a man among the people of Nephi, whose name was Sherem.”

If Sherem “came among” the Nephites after “some years,” it would seem that Sherem was not originally a Nephite, or at least was not a resident in the land of Nephi. Jacob tells us that Sherem “was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people.” This is another clue that suggests that his first language was not the Nephite language, but rather he picked it up during his time among them. His passive behavior and initial ignorance of the Nephite language also essentially rules out the possibility of him being a Lamanite, who at this point, would still be speaking the same language as the Nephites.

At length, Sherem meets Jacob, and puts forth a doctrinal proposal. He says:

“Brother Jacob, I have sought much opportunity that I might speak unto you; for I have heard and also know that thou goest about much, preaching that which ye call the gospel, or the doctrine of Christ. And ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God, and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years hence. And now behold, I, Sherem, declare unto you that this is blasphemy; for no man knoweth of such things; for he cannot tell of things to come. And after this manner did Sherem contend against me.”

Jacob, sensing Sherem’s misunderstandings of the prophesies, says:

“Deniest thou the Christ who shall come?”

To which Sherem responds:

“If there should be a Christ, I would not deny him; but I know that there is no Christ, neither has been, nor ever will be.”

Noting his initial appeal to the law of Moses, which he most likely learned from the Nephite brass plates, Jacob asks:

“Believest thou the scriptures?”

Sherem responds:

“Yea.”

At this point, Jacob is able to demonstrate that Sherem’s attempts to grasp the Nephite doctrines and scriptures have not been sufficiently thorough. He says:

“Then ye do not understand them; for they truly testify of Christ. Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ.”

The Sherem narrative continues, and we learn a good lesson about seeking signs and blaspheming. But through it all, it becomes almost certain that Sherem was an outsider who discovered the Nephite culture, tried to integrate himself into it with the hopes of gaining power, but he was unsuccessful in doing so.

This revelation, of course, opens a whole new can of worms about the demographics of the promised land. Where did Sherem come from? What is the origin of his society? And what else might we need rethink about our traditional Book of Mormon assumptions?