It was Dr. Joseph Ginat of Hebrew University who pointed out to us that the four sons of father Lehi could not have returned to their father for many, many weeks after the beheaded General Laban was discovered dead in front of his own estate. The whole region would have been in an uproar. Soldiers would have guarded every highway and searched every nook and cranny of the city looking for the man who had killed the general. Of course, they would be looking for Zoram, Laban’s servant. It would seem clear that since he had disappeared with the precious brass plates it would seem obvious that Zoram was the man who had killed Laban.
Dr. Ginat believes the search for Zoram would have extended over a period of many weeks, maybe even months, after Laban was killed. Dr. Ginat is also of the opinion that Nephi and his brothers would undoubtedly have take Zoram to their homestead near the community of Lehi and perhaps even hidden Zoram in the treasure cave while their former neighbors and friends brought them food and water. The fact that Lehi’s four sons did not return for a surprisingly long time is born out by the Book of Mormon itself. Nephi writes:
Of course, Lehi had taught his sons how to survive in the wilderness and he felt certain that they would somehow make it back to the camp. Meanwhile, he had done everything possible to comfort Sariah:
“And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted.”