Having been commanded by the Spirit, Nephi killed
Laban. He took Laban’s garments and put
them on, including his armor. He headed
to the treasury of Laban.
While going there, he met Zoram, one of Laban’s
servants. He had the keys to the
treasury. Nephi commanded him, in Laban’s
voice, to go with him to the treasury.
Zoram accepted Nephi’s deception and talked to him as if he were
Laban. He spoke to Nephi about the
elders of the Jews. Nephi continued to
respond as if he were Laban. Hugh Nibley
explain the role Zoram filled for Laban.
Zoram, as Laban's private secretary
and keeper of the keys, was himself an important official, and no mere slave.
Professor Albright has shown that the title "servant" by which Nephi
designates him meant in Jerusalem at that time something like "official representative"
and was an honorable rather than a menial title.[1]
Nephi told Zoram that he was taking the plates to his brethren
who were outside the walls of the city. Assuming
he meant Jewish leaders, he followed Nephi, still believing he was Laban. While they were leaving the city, Zoram
continued talking to Nephi about the Jewish leaders.
Laman, Lemuel, and Sam saw them coming and thought it was Laban
coming to kill them. Since he was
coming, Nephi was obviously dead. They
were frightened and ready to flee, hoping to escape Laban’s wrath. Nephi called out to them and they stopped and
returned.
Zoram must have realized Laban was, most probably, dead, and
he might be next. As he tried to escape,
Nephi grabbed him and he held him, preventing his escape.
Nephi spoke to Zoram and promised him if he listened to his
words, he would spare his life. He spoke
with an oath that he had nothing to fear and that he would be a free man if he
went with them into the wilderness. Nephi
told him the Lord commanded him to do this.
“[S]hall we not be diligent in
keeping the commandments of the Lord?” (1
Nephi 4:34). If he came, he would “have a place with us.” Val Larsen wrote:
Having restrained Zoram, Nephi
specifies the terms on which Zoram may live peaceably with the family of Lehi.
Nephi swears with the most powerful of oaths that if Zoram "would hearken
unto my words, as the Lord liveth, and as I live, even so . . . he should be a
free man like unto us" (1 Nephi 4:32–33). [2]
Zoram accepted the offer.
He made an oath that he would remain with them. Nephi
wrote, ” [W]hen Zoram had made an oath unto us, our fears did cease concerning
him” (Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 4:37)
Hugh Nibley explains the importance of oaths.
[T]he oath is the one thing that is
most sacred and inviolable among the desert people and their descendants:
"Hardly will an Arab break this oath, even if his life be in
jeopardy," for "there is nothing stronger, and nothing more
sacred than the oath among the nomads," and even the city Arabs, if
it be exacted under special conditions. "The taking of an oath is a holy
thing with the Bedouins," says one authority. "Wo to him who swears
falsely; his social standing will be damaged and his reputation ruined. No one
will receive his testimony, even if it is true, and he must also pay a money
fine."[3]
Zoram is portrayed as willingly going with Nephi and his
brothers. Hugh Nibley explains, “He was
not forced into it at all, but talked into it, softened and persuaded by
Nephi's words, in particular the promise ‘that he should be a free man like
unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us’ (1 Nephi 4:33).”[4]
Ammoron, wrote Moroni1, telling him, “I am Ammoron, and a descendant of Zoram,
whom your fathers pressed and brought out of Jerusalem” (Alma 54:23). “This statement indicates there was a
tradition among the people that Zoram had been forced to accompany Nephi.”[5]
What is the truth?
There is no question Zoram was loyal to Nephi. Lehi gave Zoram a blessing before his death,
saying, “And now, Zoram, I speak unto
you: Behold, thou art the servant of Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been
brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and I know that thou art a true friend
unto my son, Nephi, forever” (2 Nephi 1:30).
When the family separates, Nephi wrote, “I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam,
mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren,
and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me.” (2 Nephi 5:6).
When Nephi grabs him, Zoram is not in a good situation. Since Nephi has the brass plates, is wearing Laban’s
clothes and armor, and has Laban’s sword, it would be a reasonable to infer Laban
was dead. He is now outside the city, surrounded
by Nephi and his brothers. If he doesn’t
agree to their terms, he will most probably be killed. He doesn’t have much choice
At some point, the tradition that Zoram was forced to go against
his (kidnapped), develops. This tradition
may have been behind the split of the Zoramites from the Nephites.
Whether or not Zoram initially went along with Nephi and his
brothers willingly is unimportant. We
will see that Zoram always stood by, supported, and was loyal to Nephi. This is what we should remember about Zoram.
[1] Portrait
of Laban, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 10, 2013.
[2] Killing
Laban: The Birth of Sovereignty in the Nephite Constitutional Order, Val
Larsen, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 10,
2013.
[3] Portrait
of Laban, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 10, 2013.
[5] The
Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills Johnson, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 10, 2013.
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