32 And it came to pass that I spake with him, that if he would hearken unto my words, as the Lord liveth, and as I live, even so that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life.
33 And I spake unto him, even with an oath, that he need not fear; that he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us.
How important is an oath, or how binding is a man’s word? In these verses Nephi is able to calm down Zoram by making an oath that he would spare him. This is part of the Law of Moses (Num 30:2; Deut 23:21) that when you swear an oath it is completely binding, even if you swear it under duress to an enemy. Look at Alma 44 and you see that Captain Moroni would have let Zarahemnah go in peace, without a battle, if he had just agreed to not come to war again. When he wouldn’t make that covenant, Moroni’s men beat Zarahemnah’s men until finally the oath was made, at which time Moroni simply let them go. They were under the law of Moses. And even if the Lamanites didn’t live up to the practices of the Law, it was so much a part of their culture that they still honored their oaths. An oath was simply binding. As part of the new covenant that Christ established, a man’s word was his bond even if he didn’t swear to it. A promise was binding. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gives the people a higher law (Matt 5:33–37). The Law of Moses said don’t swear falsely (“forswear thyself”), but Christ said to not swear at all. Anything beyond giving your word with a simple yes or no was “from the evil one” (see footnote for Matt 5:37). Is my word my bond?
- Numbers 30:2
- Alma 44:1–12
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