Lehi, Laban, and Zoram

One of the questions I have about the early chapters of the Book of Mormon is the relationship between Laban and Lehi’s family.  How well did they know him, if at all?  Were they related somehow?  The first mention of Laban in the text is this: “Laban hath the record… The Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brothers should go unto the house of Laban, and seek the records, and bring them down hither into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 3:4).  Lehi gave no explanation of who Laban was and seemed to assume that Nephi knew Laban and where the house of Laban was.  After Nephi and is brothers got to Jerusalem, they drew lots and Laman was chosen to go in to see Laban.  We read, “And Laman went in unto the house of Laban, and he talked with him as he sat in his house” (1 Nephi 3:11).  Laman didn’t just stop by to ask for the plates from a stranger, but rather he was invited in and he sat with Laban.  To me this seems to suggest that Laman likely already had some familiarity with Laban, perhaps just as acquaintances but maybe even as friends.  After their first two failed attempts, and after the angel told them that Laban would be delivered into their hands, Laman exclaimed, “How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?” (1 Nephi 3:31)  Besides showing Laman’s lack of faith, it also showed that he knew details about Laban and his household and entourage.  Laban was no stranger to their family.

            It also seems likely that Laban was a distant relative of Lehi.  Laban had a “record of the Jews and also a genealogy of [Lehi’s] forefathers” on the plates of brass (1 Nephi 3:3).  Once they had the plates, Lehi learned that he was from Joseph and that “Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records” (1 Nephi 5:16).  So they were both from the same tribe, and if Laban’s record contained the genealogy of both Laban and Lehi, it may be that they shared a not too distant ancestor.  I also wonder if Zoram was a complete stranger to Nephi and his brothers, or if they also knew him before the encounter the night Nephi got the plates.  After Nephi slew Laban, he said, “I went forth unto the treasury of Laban” (which again suggests that he was familiar with Laban).  This was at night and so visibility must have been somewhat poor.  Nephi continued, “And as I went forth towards the treasury of Laban, behold, I saw the servant of Laban who had the keys of the treasury. And I commanded him in the voice of Laban, that he should go with me into the treasury” (1 Nephi 4:20).  Nephi did not find Zoram at the treasury, but rather he spotted him out of context en route somewhere.  Even then, Nephi knew who he was and was able to both recognize and call out to him. It seems very unlikely that this was the first time Nephi had seen Zoram since he was able to recognize him in the dark and stop him in the night.  It’s not clear whether Zoram knew Nephi or not, but the fact that he was willing to trust him and leave Jerusalem with him and his brothers to me suggests that he very well may have known Lehi’s family and wasn’t going into the wilderness with complete strangers.  Either way, it did take incredible faith for Zoram to go with Nephi and leave his whole life behind.