According to an article by John W. Welch, it turns out that there was a big difference under the law of Moses, and in ancient Near Eastern criminal law generally, between being a “thief” and being a “robber.” A “thief” was an inside member of the community; he usually worked alone, he stole things like chickens at night. A thief’s offense was not serious, and he was punished lightly, usually being required to return that which he had stolen and then doubling it. A “robber” on the other hand was an outsider, literally an outlaw, living outside the community and outside the protection of the local law. Robbers hid out in the hills, in bands, swearing oaths of secrecy, swooping down on villages, openly assassinating and plundering. Robbers were one of the greatest scourges of ancient civilization; sometimes in Egypt they occupied whole cities. Soldiers were sent out after them, and when they were caught, they were put to death on the spot--no trial was necessary… . Now we can also better understand why Laman was so frightened by Laban’s threat. When Laman tried to obtain the plates of brass, you recall, Laban threw him out, saying, “Thou art a robber, and I will slay thee” (1 Nephi 3:13). Indeed, Laban was a military officer. And even though Laman clearly was not a robber, if Laban chose to characterize him as such, Laban had the power to put some real teeth into his threat. Of course, if the text had said, “Thou art a thief, and I will slay thee,” it wouldn’t have sounded quite right. But that too is a telling point, for there is little substantive distinction between “theft” and “robbery” in Anglo-American law; nor could Joseph have learned the ancient distinction from his Bible, for the translators of the King James Version use these two words indiscriminately and interchangeably. For example, in the story of the Good Samaritan, the King James Version says that a man went down from Jerusalem and fell among “thieves” (Luke 10:30). Of course, you do not fall among “thieves” out in the desert, but among “robbers,” which is how the Greek reads. Unlike the King James Version, however, the Book of Mormon uses these two terms correctly. [John W. Welch, “Study and Faith & The Book of Mormon” in BYU Today, September 1988, p. 21]