According to Hugh Nibley, it is no surprise that Laman and Lemuel beat their younger brothers with a rod. In fact, Nibley says that “every free man in the East carries a stick, the immemorial badge of independence and authority, and every man asserts his authority over his inferiors by his stick.” The use of a stick to show authority—whether by government officials, military officers, tax collectors, or schoolmasters—is very ancient. Laman and Lemuel obviously intend to show their usurped authority over Nephi, because the angel asks them why they smite their younger brother when the Lord has placed him as a ruler over them. (See Echoes, 460–461.)