Meaning of the word "Land" in the Book of Mormon

I just had an interesting experience reading the Book of Mormon.  I was pondering over the notion and meaning of the word "land" as it is used in the Book of Mormon.  I was prompted to search for the term "lands of" using the enclosing quotes in the search box.  This narrowed the search. Some 125 occurrences of the term "land of" came up.  I read them all in sequence and found it to be a most useful exercise. It gives one a quick overview of the use of this term in the Book of Mormon.  You also get a feel for how many actual lands are mentioned by name.  There aren't really that many.  It would be a short list. It also gives a feel for the sizes and relative locations of these lands.  It is also interesting to see the use of "up," "down," "over," "to," and "into" as it relates to the relative elevations and positioning of the various lands.

I suggest you would find it most useful to spend any hour reading these same verses.

Here is a dictionary meaning of "land" which I suggest is the same meaning used by the Book of Mormon people when declaring a portion of the earth's surface as a "land." Understandably the dictionary gives several other meanings for "land."

"A part of the surface of the earth marked off by natural or political boundaries or the like; a region or country." 

 Within this definition, of course, we should stress the importance of "political" divisions and that "natural" boundaries often have a lesser importance.  The "lands" were often just the area surrounding a city of the same name (its hinterland) where the inhabitants of the city had recognized political control. The notion of inheritance of a "land" is important as well.  And as we know, these lands were sometimes nested within a larger land. They were also separated by a space of land called "borders" and not necessarily by a line border. And again as we know the word "border" as a singular word does not occur in the Book of Mormon. It is also clear in the text that a "land" is a rather small area of the earth's surface measured in a day's journey or less (like the early creation of counties in North America and for the same reason: the constraints of slow means of travel) and not a large expanse of the continent or even the continent itself, which many who comment on the geography of the Book of Mormon seem to infer.

I noted as well that the "land of Nephi" clearly starts immediately south of the "land of Zarahemla" at the south wilderness, which, of course, is the northern end of the narrow strip of wilderness.  This we knew.  And as we have often discussed, this means that when leaving the land of Zarahemla one goes "up to" the land of Nephi because of the rather precipitous rise in elevation.  Reading all the applicable references at once reinforces this important concept. As with all the borders of all lands, the boundary between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi was not a line border but a strip of territory.  The borders between these two major lands were certainly not at the middle nor the southern end of the narrow strip of wilderness.

I also noted how often the "land of Jershon" is mentioned.  I suspect that it is the most mentioned after the land of Nephi and land of Zarahemla. You may have some thoughts as to why this is so.

I also noted the use of the term "came up unto" when referring to someone going to a capitol place like Zarahemla or the Jaredite city of Moron to do some activity with those in political control like the King or the Chief Judge.  There is a long history in the world of cultures situating the palace or political buildings at a slightly higher elevation within a city (the Chinese, especially, did this), therefore, the use of "up" in the phrase.  So "came up unto" does not necessarily mean the city itself was at a high elevation relative to the surrounding lands. Also, the phrase "came up unto" may be simply symbolic of this cultural notion of approaching a higher power or political authority.