Where did the people in the Book of Mormon come from?

Q: Where did the people in the Book of Mormon come from?

A: The people who wrote the Book of Mormon record came from Jerusalem, the capital city of the Kingdom of Judah. The record starts with a good man named “Lehi” who strove to keep the commandments of God and loved his people. In the year 600 B.C., he heard many prophets tell the people that if they didn’t change their evil ways the city would be destroyed. After hearing this, he prayed fervently to God for his countrymen, and as a result the Lord called him to be a prophet and showed him what would happen to the city.

Like the other prophets, Lehi warned the people of the approaching catastrophe, and also prophesied of the coming of the Messiah. The people didn’t believe him; in fact, they became angry, and some even sought to kill him. Things looked grim. Then, in a dream, the Lord mercifully warned Lehi to leave Jerusalem. He and his family quickly gathered only what they needed and headed into the wilderness to the south, toward Arabia and the Red Sea.  It appears they told no one they were leaving, lest their enemies should follow them and kill them. Lehi’s family consisted of his wife, Sariah, and his four sons, whose names were Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi.

Background Notes

Interestingly, Lemuel is an ancient Arabic name, and Sam (not to be confused with "Samuel") is an ancient Egyptian name.These facts were unknown when the Book of Mormon was translated and published in 1830.