The story of Laban and his sword in the Book of Mormon has long fascinated me. For many, it’s a problematic story, because Nephi cuts off Laban’s head with his own sword, as commanded by the Spirit and, well, that sort of thing is more likely to be a sign of mental illness in our days and times. So, I get that.

But I think we’ve long misinterpreted this passage and today I’d like to perhaps recast this tale and hopefully help us to all understand it in a new light.

First off, it’s probably worth emphasising a couple of things. One, although told in narrative story form, Nephi isn’t writing in order to tell us a story. He is teaching us about how to come to Christ. He is most explicit about this effort in 2 Nephi, but it’s the same message in 1 Nephi – just expressed differently.

‘For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.’ (1 Nephi 6:4)

‘And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.’ (2 Nephi 25:26)

As I’ve also expressed recently (see here and here), this young prophet is also writing to us, about us. It is a witness and a warning. An integral part of coming to Christ is repentance, and the story of Laban and his sword fits perfectly into this narrative.

Something I noticed some years ago is the repetition of the pattern of three in this particular story. In Jewish thought, the number three represents the harmony of completeness.

‘One symbolizes unity, agreement, simplicity. When something exists alone, nothing disturbs it. It remains completely at peace, without regard for anything else. Two symbolizes duality, tension and complexity. The number three symbolizes a harmony that includes and synthesizes two opposites. The unity symbolized by the number three isn’t accomplished by getting rid of number two, the entity that caused the discord, and reverting to the unity symbolized by number one. Rather, three merges the two to create a new entity, one that harmoniously includes both opposites.’ (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/608781/jewish/On-the-Meaning-of-Three.htm)

For example, when Lehi tells Nephi to go back to Jerusalem to collect the plates of brass, he uses a derivation of the word ‘command’ three times (1 Nephi 3:2-5). In Nephi’s famous reply (1 Nephi 3:7), he does the same. The brothers make a total of three attempts to get the plates, only being successful on the third attempt (1 Nephi 3-4). On the brothers’ second attempt, they try to purchase the plates from Laban using their family’s 1. gold, 2. silver, and 3. precious things (see 1 Nephi 3:16, 22). Nephi notes three characteristics of the sword of Laban (1 Nephi 4:9). The spirit needs to tell Nephi three times to kill Laban (1 Nephi 4:10-12) before he does so, and Nephi states three realisations that came to him that convinced him to do so (1 Nephi 4:15-17).

There might be other patterns of three in this story, but those I have identified above come to seven instances, the number seven itself symbolising completeness and perfection. So we have the number three, a representation of completeness and harmony, expressed seven times, a representation of completeness and perfection. It seems there is something crucial about the plates of brass that Nephi is trying to get us to understand here – that a truly essential part of becoming complete ourselves is related to the scriptures.

This brings to mind various sayings of Jesus Christ, including:

‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ (Matthew 5:48)

‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.’ (John 5:39)

‘Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.’ (Matthew 22:29)

Pulling these thoughts together, in order for us to fulfil Christ’s command to become perfect or complete, we need the scriptures. We need to search them, understand them, and follow the precepts taught in them (which teach the Doctrine of Christ). Anything outside of that and we risk erring.

What does this all have to do with the sword of Laban?

Well, Laban was the one responsible for keeping this sacred record. Nephi records that the plates of brass including some of the writings of Jeremiah, so it appears Laban even largely kept them up to date. It seems he kept that part of his responsibilities seriously.

But although he held the sacred record, he didn’t follow it. He falsely accused Nephi and his brothers of being robbers (1 Nephi 3:13), a crime punishable by death under their law. He then became a robber himself by sending his guards to kill the brothers while he stole their wealth (1 Nephi 3:25), also a crime punishable by death. He spent his nights with the wicked leaders of Jerusalem (1 Nephi 4:22), who would soon be destroyed for their wickedness.

And this is where we get to the sword of Laban. We could delve into a lengthy scripture study on the symbolism of swords, but I think one will do for now:

‘For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ (Hebrews 4:12)

The idea of a two-edged sword is fascinating. It cuts both ways. In spiritual symbolism, it can cut an opponent; but if if you’re not careful it can cut yourself instead. When the children of Israel signed up to their covenant with God, they also signed up to covenant curses if they disobeyed (see Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28). Jerusalem’s imminent destruction was a consequence to their disobedience to their covenant – even though they believed they were keeping it.

Let’s take a look at the sword of Laban as a symbol of this. Nephi says,

‘I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.’ (1 Nephi 4:9)

I’ve highlighted the three descriptors: 1. pure gold, 2. exceedingly fine, 3. most precious steel.

One of the things that immediately jumps out at me is that of these three things, Lehi’s riches included two of them: gold, and precious things. But with the sword of Laban, it’s not only gold and precious, but pure gold and most precious. And this immediately takes my mind to Lehi’s dream and the tree of life a few chapters later.

In Nephi’s visionary explanation of the dream, he sees the tree as being ‘precious above all’ (1 Nephi 11:9). Later in the Book of Mormon, Alma describes the fruit of the tree of life as being, ‘pure above all that is pure’ (Alma 32:42).

Perhaps most interesting of all is the descriptor of the sword being ‘exceedingly fine’. Nephi uses this exact phrase four times. Once for the sword, once in Lehi’s dream (1 Nephi 8:27), once for the ship he later builds (1 Nephi 18:4), and once for the temple his people build in the promised land (2 Nephi 5:16). If we ignore the sword for a moment, all the other three references relate to the sacred.

In Dave Butler’s book, In the Language of Adam, he explains how the great and spacious building in Lehi’s dream could be interpreted as the corrupted temple of Jerusalem. Those within that building in their ‘exceedingly fine’ clothes, could therefore have been in priestly clothes (described as fine linen in the Old Testament).

Again, this is a perfect match for the sword of Laban – an item described in richly symbolic language relating to righteousness, purity, and godliness, and yet held by a wicked man who sought wealth and power over others through violence. In exactly the same way, the religious leadership and priestly classes in Jerusalem had corrupted their temple worship and were wicked – more interesting in grinding the faces of the poor for their own benefit than in seeking justice for the oppressed.

The consequence of such blasphemy, of taking the Lord’s name in vain, was covenant cursing. The Jews of the day held the covenant, they held the words of God, they violated them and would be destroyed. Laban held the plates of brass scriptures, he held the word of God – the two-edged sword – but violated his covenants and would be destroyed by the very covenant he had sworn to keep.

That is what I believe Nephi is trying to teach us in this episode. I don’t know if Nephi actually chopped off Laban’s head. To be honest it doesn’t matter to me, because it’s the spiritual lesson he’s trying to teach us that I value.

Why did Lehi’s family need the plates of brass when they had a living prophet with them? Because even with a prophet, they couldn’t keep the law that would bring them to Christ without the scriptures (1 Nephi 4:13-16). The scriptures contain the covenants of the Lord. I have made a covenant with the Lord. I have his word. How will I keep it?

The Book of Mormon teaches us exactly what this covenant is. Nephi himself speaks in plainness about this in the closing chapters of 2 Nephi. Christ again teaches us in plainness in 3 Nephi 11 and in 27. That’s three separate passages; three witnesses.

Will we heed the message?

© Copyright 2025 Jeffrey Collyer