It is remarkable to note that this group had tasted of the fruit before they fell away. They were bothered by the scoffers in the great and spacious building. These had tasted of the love of God and then chose the love of men instead. This group of people were not investigators but those who had successfully navigated the mists of darkness of the great and spacious field only to fail after tasting of the fruit. What a tragedy! Robert L. Millet said, "Imagine that! This group of people had received the word of God into their lives and had partaken of the renovating powers of Christ's atonement—their sins had been remitted, and for a season they sang 'the song of redeeming love' ("Alma 5:26Alma 5:26). What was the problem? They were too concerned with what others thought, too preoccupied with the world's pecking order. They allowed their values to be affected and then shaped by the values of others. That is, they surrendered to pride." (Alive in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth, p. 184)
Furthermore, this passage has implications for how we interpret the symbolism of the fruit. Although, Nephi explains that the fruit represents the greatest of all the gifts of God, i.e. eternal life (1 Nephi 15:36), the full definition cannot be that narrow. Since the tree itself symbolizes the love of God, the fruit itself must also represent the love of God, especially in this verse. It is impossible to receive eternal life and then fall away, but it is entirely possible to taste of the love of God and then to fall away into forbidden paths.
Neal A. Maxwell
"A few members of the Church, alas, desert the cause; they are like one who abandons an oasis to search for water in the desert. Some of these few will doubtless become critics, and they will be welcomed into the 'great and spacious building.' Henceforth, however, so far as their theological accommodations are concerned, they are in a spacious but third-rate hotel. All dressed up, as the Book of Mormon says, 'exceedingly fine' (1 Nephi 8:27), they have no place to go except—one day, hopefully, home." (First Nephi, The Doctrinal Foundation, BYU Religious Studies Center, p. 11 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.34)