As I read about Samuel the Lamanite I began wondering about him.  He is the only Lamanite prophet mentioned in the scriptures.  Given the fact that there were many righteous Lamanites from about 90 B.C. to 200 A.D., I would suppose that there were other Lamanites who might have been prophets besides Samuel; but Samuel is the only one of whom we have record.  Others may have written, but their records weren’t in the keeping of the Nephite prophets, and, therefore, didn’t end up in the hands of the historian, Mormon.

Samuel is unique.  We have a record of one incident in his life, but beyond that we know nothing about him, either.  Samuel suddenly appeared in the wicked city of Zarahemla, preached repentance to the people “many days” (Hel. 13:2), was cast out, returned when the voice of the Lord commanded him to do so, got upon the wall of the city, and preached a long, threatening sermon, filled with many very pointed, amazing prophecies.

Someone recorded his sermon.  Who did it?  How did it end up in the Nephite record?  Where did Samuel come from?

Twenty-five years previously Nephi gave up the judgment seat, and with his brother Lehi, took it upon himself to preach repentance to the people.  Their success among the Nephites was limited, but among the Lamanites there were mass conversions.  Samuel was likely one of those converts.  He was either one of Nephi’s converts, or else he was the son of one of the Lamanites who had been converted earlier with the people of Ammon.

Either way, Samuel was most likely personally known by Nephi.  Samuel was in Zarahemla “many days,” and would have needed a place to stay, and someone to feed him.  If he was known personally by Nephi, what would have been more natural than to have stayed with Nephi in Nephi’s own house?

Nephi had the records.  Samuel’s prophecy and much of his sermon ended up in the Nephite record.  It’s most likely that Nephi himself wrote the account.  Nephi was either standing in the crowd listening to Samuel, or gathered the information from other sympathetic listeners.

After the dramatic conclusion of Samuel’s sermon there were many who were convinced of the truth of his words.  Everyone in the city knew about Nephi.  He’d been haranguing them along the same lines for a long time, and was famous for ending a very destructive drought and famine eleven years before.  (Hel. 11:17-18).  After hearing Samuel, these repentant ones knew what they had to do.  They went looking for Nephi, and asked to be baptized.  (Hel. 16:1).  Samuel’s and Nephi’s message was the same; and possibly Samuel was recognized as Nephi’s preaching and missionary companion.

Samuel was cast out of the city, but Nephi was not.  Nephi’s message wasn’t popular with many of the people; but Nephi was famous, and was still much esteemed by supporters and non-supporters alike.  Nephi had been unwearying (Hel. 10:4-5) in his efforts to teach people of Christ and of Christ’s imminent birth.  Everything that prophets had preached and prophesied about for many centuries was about to be fulfilled.  All that preaching and prophecy was focused on an event, which according to Samuel’s words, was going to take place in just five more years.  Nephi was as excited as anyone, and probably much more so.

Despite Nephi’s excitement and eagerness about Jesus’ birth, he wasn’t there when it happened.  Just days before the sign was given of Jesus’ birth Nephi gave all of the records and sacred things to his son, and departed out of the land.  He disappeared, and was never heard of again.  (3 Ne. 1:2-3).

It seems unfair that Nephi didn’t get to be there, and be an eye witness to the events attending Christ’s birth.  But whether on this side of the veil or on the other, we can be sure that Nephi was, indeed, an eye witness.  Nephi was apparently translated so that he could continue his work on a higher plane.  He very likely got to witness the worldwide events attending Christ’s birth.

What of Samuel?  He was probably younger than Nephi.  He was still in mortality at Christ’s birth, and got to see the fulfillment of his own prophecy.  What a treasure his own account and his own writings would be.