1 Nephi 4:20-EoC

In this selection of the chapter we meet Zoram, one of the servants of Laban. I imagine that Zoram had a pleasant disposition and a talker. I think that he has a pleasant disposition becuase he follows Nephi so well later in life. First, he goes with Nephi out of Jerusalem. Later, Lehi blesses Zoram and his posterity. He says that Zoram is and will be a true friend to Nephi forever (see 2 Nephi 1:30-32). When the Nephites separate themselves in the promised land, he follows them, too. There are the two verses that give me the indication that he likes to talk:

22 And he spake unto me concerning the elders of the Jews, he knowing that his master, Laban, had been out by night among them.

27 And he spake unto me many times concerning the elders of the Jews, as I went forth unto my brethren, who were without the walls.

All Nephi did was go up to Laban's treasury, had Zoram get the plates and walk to the outer walls of Jerusalem and he made two entries in his book about this seemingly little thing.

What did Zoram say? I'd like to think that he was trying to get him to be a better person. He notices that Laban asks for the plates, which contain the word of God, and hopes that he might study them, perhaps with the elders of the Jews. However, Nephi shared with us that Jerusalem was a wicked place at the time, and maybe the elders of the Jews weren't so righteous either.

When they get outside the city, Nephi's brothers run away because they thought that Nephi was Laban, just as Zoram did. Nephi calls after them, in his own voice, and they stop but Zoram is frightened now. (Up to this point Nephi was doing he best Laban impression.) Nephi, with the help of the Lord, gets Zoram and holds him so he doesn't get away, and says that if you listen to us, you will be spared. Zoram makes an oath with them to come with them to the promised land as a free man. Nephi says that this was crucial, so he didn't go and tell everyone in the city about Lehi's journey into the wilderness. So, in the end, they head back to the tent of their father with the brass plates and with a friend to journey with. They had fulfilled the Lord's commandment and were (and will be) blessed for it.