Outside the walls, the brothers waited. Remember how scared they were when they saw Zoram coming, with Nephi now dressed in the armor of Laban. They had already been told that Laban was going to come and try to kill them, and as robbers they could be executed on the spot. Their fears, however, were soon settled, when they swore an oath with Zoram. They could not let him go. To keep him from trying to run away, they swore an oath with him, giving a place in the family, having an inheritance right. Indeed, because of this oath there would be Zoramites in the Nephite world. Zoram was treated as if he were a son of Lehi. When Nephi swears, "As the Lord liveth and as I live," he puts his life on this. "If this oath is not fulfilled, then I will die."
When the people in Jerusalem woke up the next morning and saw that the plates were gone, and also that Zoram is gone, they might have now wondered if Zoram had taken the plates, and maybe even Zoram killed Laban. But they have no idea where the plates have gone. Because there were no witnesses at all, and not even Laman or Lemuel or Sam could stand as witnesses against Nephi, no legal action could be brought against either Nephi or Zoram.
We do not know anything about Zoram’s background. If he was a slave, he would not have been an Israelite. At least he was under some conditions of servitude. Nephi’s promise not only of family membership, but also freedom and standing within the family was obviously an attractive motivator for Zoram, especially considering the lack of any other viable option. The terms of Nephi’s oath were that he would spare Zoram’s life if he will "hearken unto our words" (4:32), then he would be "a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us" (4:33) and that he shall "have place with us" (4:34), and "that he would tarry with [Nephi and his family] from that time forth" (4:35). This was a good thing. The brothers could scarcely have let Zoram go. He would have immediately sounded the hue and cry.