"...in spite of all they were taught, Laman, the archvillain, and his tag-along brother Lemuel emerge as fundamentally corrupt men. Their record was dismal: they were materialistic, faithless, disloyal, cowardly, complaining, cruel, lazy, untruthful, and, like Jacob's son Reuben, 'unstable as water' (Genesis 49:4)-humbling themselves one day and breathing out threats the next (1 Nephi 7:20; 16:5, 32, 39; 18:4, 15, 20). The only thing that really impressed them was power (1 Nephi 18:20). Above all, they were would-be murderers of their own father and brother. In the end, they polluted their posterity with their lies and brought a curse upon them that was not to be removed for more than a half a millennium.
"On the other hand, Nephi was a man of astonishing faith, profound humility, and consistent steadiness. In the latter, he was unequaled even by his parents...why the striking contrast between Nephi and his two brothers? Was one so good, and the others so bad? Is it a case of self-serving manipulation of the facts on Nephi's part? Hardly. If anything, Nephi has moderated his own virtues. I believe that Nephi and Laman symbolize that essential opposition between good and evil drawn so vividly in the Book of Mormon. They represent the two extremes found therein: life versus death, heaven versus hell, the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of the devil, the spiritually minded versus the carnally minded, the saved versus the lost-those sealed up to Christ and those sealed up to the devil (Alma 34:34-36; 40:23-26).
"Lehi knew that Laman and Lemuel...had seen an angel (1 Nephi 3:29; 4:3; 7:10; 17:45), had experienced the power of God (1 Nephi 7:18; 17:48, 52-55), and had heard the voice of the Lord and received of his Spirit (1 Nephi 16:39; 17:45). Yet they plotted Nephi's murder on at least four occasions (1 Nephi 7:16; 16:37; 17:48; 2 Nephi 5:2; compare 1:24), and their father's at least once (1 Nephi 16:37). Nephi accused Laman and Lemuel of being 'murderers in their hearts' (1 Nephi 17:44). They were prepared to shed innocent blood.
"These were not ignorant men; they stood self-condemned. When literally shocked by the Spirit, they testified: 'We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us' (1 Nephi 17:55; compare 2 Nephi 4:22)." (Rodney Turner, First Nephi: The Doctrinal Foundation, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., pp. 82 - 83.)
