PUZZLE #7 - A Josephite?

Consider 1 Nephi 5:14-16.

The boys had returned to camp with the plates of brass. In the record, Lehi found that he was descended from Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. He also found that Laban (the record keeper Nephi murdered) was of that same lineage. Notice; the verse says that Laban kept the records because he was of the lineage of Joseph.

Nine hundred years before Christ, the House of Israel seceded from it's union with the House of Judah. What had been the United Kingdom of Israel under the reign
of David and Solomon, became two separate nations. The two nations were often at war with each other. They were not exactly friends.

In 721 b.c., the House of Israel fell victim to the empire of Assyria. The entire nation of Israel, the northern kingdom, was deported to Assyria to be slaves. They
never returned. They became the so-called lost ten tribes, and the ruling tribe among them was that of Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph.

At the time of the civil war, people of other tribes who wanted to stay near the temple were allowed to defect from their northern tribes and move into the territory of the kingdom of Judah. They abandoned their national heritage in the northern kingdom of Israel and dissolved into the kingdom of Judah.

The author has told us here that Lehi and Laban had lineage to Joseph. In Nephi's day, the northern kingdom had been gone to Assyria for more than 120 years, so, the
tribe of Joseph had been gone for more than 120 years. Lehi and Laban must have descended from people who had come down to live near the temple, at the time of the
civil war. Therein we find our next PUZZLE.

If your nation had been permanently divided in civil war and your half had been at war with the other half, off and on for two hundred years, would you have your records kept by someone from the other side? It would be unlikely, but notice what verse 16 says. It says that Laban was keeping the records of the Jews BECAUSE he was a descendant of Joseph. REF: Page 11 (1st Nephi 5:16)

This passage must have been written by someone who understood the nationality of the Jews to be that of all the tribes of Israel. Today, most people look at the nation of Israel, the Jews, as though they are all that's left of Israel. The author here had that same viewpoint. He didn't see any problem in having a Josephite be the record keeper for the Jews, but he even confused it more by saying that Laban kept the records BECAUSE of his lineage from Joseph. Isn't that puzzling?

Was the writer of this text ever a resident of Jerusalem. This author was confused on the tribal issue. Those who lived in Jerusalem would never have had a descendant of Joseph keeping their records.