The curious aspect of Laman and Lemuel was that they were capable of such wide swings from violent rebellion to humble repentance. Given that Laman and Lemuel are later accused of having hearts "past feeling" (1 Nephi 17:45) there is a possibility that their repentance is less than sincere, and is a result of their own capitulation to the prevalent wishes of Ishmael's family. After all, they might be jeopardizing their own future families, if they were to alienate the Ishmaelite women.