The wife of Nephi was one of the daughters of Ishmael, the family the Lord commanded Lehi’s sons to bring from Jerusalem into the wilderness (1 Nephi 7:2). When Laman and Lemuel again sought to take Nephi’s life, one of the daughters of Ishmael, her mother, and one of the sons of Ishmael pleaded with the brethren until they relented and ceased striving to kill him (1 Nephi 7:19).
Nephi took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife in the wilderness, at the same time his brothers and Zoram married others of Ishmael’s daughters (1 Nephi 16:7). During the years of travel, Nephi records that the women of the party bore children in the wilderness and were strong enough to nurse them throughout the journey, citing this as evidence of the Lord’s blessing upon the group (1 Nephi 17:1-2). When Nephi was later bound on the ship by Laman and Lemuel, his wife wept and prayed for his release, but her intercession did not soften his brothers’ hearts; only the threat of destruction by God’s power moved them to loose him (1 Nephi 18:19-20).