Sam (Book of Mormon)
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Sam is a minor character in the early part of the Book of Mormon narrative. He is the third son of Lehi and the older brother of Nephi, the narrator of the Book of Mormon's first two books. Sam is almost always allied with Nephi in conflicts with their older brothers, Laman and Lemuel. In the later books of the Book of Mormon, Sam's descendants are combined with Nephi's descendants and simply called "Nephites."[1]
Textual descriptions
The Book of Mormon presents Sam as a Nephi's constant ally against their older brothers, Laman and Lemuel. When the original Lehite colony splits into Nephites and Lamanites, Sam and his family side with the Nephites. In their 1992 article "Seven Tribes, and Aspect of Lehi's Legacy," John L. Sorenson, John A. Tvedtnes, and John W. Welch point out that, while tribes of Nephites, Lamanites, and Lemuelites persist throughout the text, as do Jacobites and Josephites (Lehi's younger sons born in the desert), there are never Samites in the Book of Mormon, which Grant Hardy suggests could mean that Sam "only had daughters."[2]