Nephi and Section 98

Section 98 of the Doctrine and Covenants gives us some insight into the story of Nephi slaying Laban in the Book of Mormon. The Lord said, “If men will smite you, or your families, once, and ye bear it patiently and revile not against them, neither seek revenge, ye shall be rewarded;…  And again, if your enemy shall smite you the second time, and you revile not against your enemy, and bear it patiently, your reward shall be an hundred-fold. And again, if he shall smite you the third time, and ye bear it patiently, your reward shall be doubled unto you four-fold; And these three testimonies shall stand against your enemy if he repent not, and shall not be blotted out.” In other words, if our enemy comes upon us three different times, we are to bear it patiently and revile not against them and seek not revenge. After this, if the enemy does not have justice brought upon him, the righteous are to “warn him in my name, that he come no more upon you, neither upon your family, even your children’s children.” And then, if the enemy comes again a fourth time, “Thine enemy is in thine hands; and if thou rewardest him according to his works thou art justified; if he has sought thy life, and thy life is endangered by him, thine enemy is in thine hands and thou art justified. Behold, this is the law I gave unto my servant Nephi” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:23-32). So there is a point at which the followers of Christ are justified in defending themselves and even taking the life of someone else who threatens theirs. But their first, and second, and third attempts should always be to have peace first.  

               So how do we see this applied to Nephi’s story? The first time they sought the plates from Laban he was angry with Laman and “thrust him out from his presence; and he would not that he should have the records. Wherefore, he said unto him: Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee” (1 Nephi 3:13). So that’s the first time that he sought to kill them. They did not seek retribution but tried again to go to him to obtain the plates peaceably: “And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things. And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceedingly great, he did lust after it, insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property” (1 Nephi 3:24-25). They had to literally run for their lives until they could hide from the servants of Laban who sought to kill them. So that was the second time, at least as recorded in our version of the story, that Laban tried to kill them with no justification. It was after this that Nephi was led at night by the Spirit to find Laban on the ground. The Spirit said to Nephi: “Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands. Yea, and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life.” This is very similar language to section 98 and the Lord justified Nephi’s actions because of the way Laban has sought his life. Though we don’t have record of Laban seeking to take their lives four times specifically like section 98 mentions, it certainly could have been the case given how quick he was to try to kill them. We also don’t have record of Nephi warning Laban about what might happen to him, but that likely happened at some point. At any rate, the Lord’s explanation helps us understand why Nephi’s actions were justified. Laban was actively trying to slay Nephi and his family and the Lord “justified” Nephi in defending his own life when his enemy was delivered into his hands.