And now I would that ye might know,
that after my father, Lehi, had made an end of prophesying concerning his seed,
it came to pass that the Lord spake unto him again, saying that it was not meet
for him, Lehi, that he should take his family into the wilderness alone; but
that his sons should take daughters to wife, that they might raise up seed unto
the Lord in the land of promise. (1 Nephi 7:1)
As for timing, certainly they needed
to marry before it was too difficult or too far to return to find Israelite
women. But why now and now at the time they first left? Or why was this mission
not combined with the expedition for the plates? While the Book of Mormon
offers no answer, I hypothesize that obtaining the brass plates solidified the
reality of the exodus to them, firmly severing the possibility of a return. If
they allowed Zoram to live and return with them, then he could have been a
witness that Nephi had killed Laban. Even if there were no other witnesses, the
conflict between the brothers and Laban would have been well known to at least
his force of fifty and probably to other people in the city. Furthermore, there
is no indication that Lehi’s enemies would have moderated their hostility. The
family could not return.
Acquiring the brass plates confirmed
through their experiences that Yahweh was leading them. Thus, these experiences
not only strengthened their resolve but perhaps also provided arguments that
would convince Ishmael and his family to accompany them. (Brant A. Gardner, Second
Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6
vols. [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 1:140-41)
