Literature: Nephi reiterates the necessity of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, which he now links with his earlier allusion to strait and narrow paths and gates. This is an excellent example of Nephi’s art in organization and persuasion. In referring to baptism, he uses the image of being on a “strait and narrow path.” This reference is not a simple repetition of his earlier remarks for the sake of literary neatness but an important prelude to the next point—that the path implies a journey, which continues after baptism.
Reference:The language of the “strait and narrow” path echoes Matthew 7:14. (See commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 8:19–20 for a discussion of the Book of Mormon’s use of “straight” instead of “strait.”)