The Lemuelites were a group identified within the Book of Mormon as descendants of Lemuel, the second son of the prophet Lehi and his wife Sariah. These individuals were counted among the broader categorization of Lamanites, which included all those who descended from Lehi’s other sons who rejected the leadership of their youngest brother Nephi and his descendants. From Jacob’s time, the term Lemuelite became less frequent in use as the designation for these people merged into the collective term ‘Lamanites,’ encompassing the Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites, along with the Nephite dissenters (Jacob 1:13–14; Alma 43:13; Alma 47:35).
As a matter of course, the Lemuelites adopted and maintained the hostile attitudes and traditions of their ancestors towards the Nephites, contributing to the ongoing conflicts between the two nations. However, there were instances where individuals among the Lemuelites chose the path of peace and righteousness, such as during the great conversion of the Lamanites to the teachings of the Nephite Christian missionaries, where “none were Amalekites or Amulonites... but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel” who joined the Church (Alma 24:29).
Subsequently, after the coming of Christ to the Promised Land and the period of peace that followed, the terms Lamanites and Lemuelites surfaced again when groups began to reject the Gospel. The text states that “they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, and Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites” and that these groups did not just passively dwindle in unbelief, but actively chose to rebel against the teachings of Christ (4 Nephi 1:38).
Despite the few individual instances of conversion to the Nephite belief system, the Lemuelites as a collective continued to identify with Lamanite culture, heritage, and opposition to the Nephites. This legacy carried on until the end of the historical narrative in the Book of Mormon, where they are named among the forces aligned against the Nephites in the final battles that led to the destruction of the Nephite nation (Mormon 1:8-9).