1 Nephi 4 - Nephi in Jerusalem

1 Ne. 4:1-3 - a motivational speech

These three verses are a short motivational speech by Nephi citing events in Israelite history, trying to get his brothers to agree to give it one more try with Laban in Jerusalem. Similar speeches recapitulating the salvation history of Israel, some much longer, appear periodically throughout 1 Nephi.

1 Ne. 4:3 - wherefore can ye doubt?

Now behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers, and to destroy Laban, even as the Egyptians.

Nephi gives two reasons his brethren should not doubt that the Lord can deliver the desired record into their hands despite Laban's opposition: (1) They just know it; and (2) an angel told them so. The first reason reflects in an odd way the prevalent Mormon view that people just know that the Church is true. The second reason reflects the unusual status of Laman and Lemuel in the narrative, doubtful and rebellious men who nevertheless have conversed with angels.

On the general topic of doubt, compare Alma 56:47-48 (the stripling warriors "had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them"); 3 Nephi 8:4 ("And there began to be great doubtings and disputations among the people, notwithstanding so many signs had been given"); Mormon 9:21("Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him"); and Ether 3:19 ("and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting").

1 Ne. 4:6 - led by the Spirit

I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.

He didn't have a plan, just faith and courage. This was Nephi's defining moment, when, alone, he "crept into the city and went forth towards the house of Laban" (4:5).

1 Ne. 4:9-17 - Nephi's interior dialogue

This block of verses reports Nephi's interior dialogue between himself and the Spirit. The Spirit tells Nephi to "kill Laban" (4:10), then, more poetically, "Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands" (4:12). Nephi reports that he was initially loathe to take such action, but on further reflection (v. 14-17) decided that dispatching Laban and obtaining the plates of brass would in fact further God's purposes.

1 Ne. 4:18 - the death of Laban

Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword.

With his own sword, no less. This graphic event, which looks like the murder of a supine and defenseless man, troubles many readers of the Book of Mormon, but this sort of thing is very much in the spirit of the Old Testament. Consider the David and Goliath encounter: "David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith" (1 Sam. 17:51). That's not some thuggish Israelite soldier or the pitiless Joab at work; that's David, who became the hero king of Israel.

Even more graphic is Samuel's execution of Agag, a foreign king captured in battle but spared by Saul, against Samuel's explicit directive otherwise: "Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal" (1 Sam. 15:32-33). That's Samuel, one of the greatest of Israel's prophets. Prophets were made of pretty stern stuff back then. So was Nephi, it seems.

1 Ne. 4:30-37 - a lighter moment: the prudent Zoram joins the expedition

In an extreme dramatic shift, we move from Laban's execution directly to Zoram's almost comic dilemma. The text highlights the desire of the brothers that Zoram not return and report their shady deed to the Jerusalem authorities. Given earlier events (chapter 3) that story might have seemed credible, but having unwittingly assisted Nephi in obtaining the plates of brass and getting out of town, Zoram was in a very delicate position. If he was not believed, he would be the primary suspect and would likely lose his own life. And perhaps Laban wasn't a really great guy to work for. So after a little reflection, Zoram prudently decided that maybe departing into the wilderness wasn't such a bad idea. Sometimes your whole life can change in one cosmic moment. Carpe diem. Zoram seized his moment.