In Mosiah 19:24 we have a strange statement that isn't explained in the text. It's included as if the reader should be fully aware of what was going on. In review, Gideon had sent men into the wilderness to search for king Noah and those that went with him, and they had encountered part of the group as they were about to return to the land of Nephi. The returning group explained to the men of Gideon that they had put king Noah to death and that the wicked priests had escaped farther into the wilderness. Then comes the strange statement: "And it came to pass that after they had ended the ceremony, that they returned to the land of Nephi, rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain . . ." (Mosiah 19:24).
Hugh Nibley asks, What ceremony? From the commentary on "the Men of Gideon" (see Mosiah 19:22) we learned that they were a special party or alliance to bear the name even in his absence--the party of Gideon. Remember the party of Noah had left the town, and Gideon had come to catch up with them and punish their leader. Gideon couldn't leave Noah alone--he was on his heels all the time. So they were hostile parties who were opposed to each other. One was the refugees, and the other was the avenging party following them, so they were hostile. They couldn't go back home together until they had settled, smoked the peace pipe, and had the ceremony. You have to have a ceremony before you can reach peace with a hostile group. You either fight them or have the ceremony, so that's what they did. They had a peace ceremony. They always have that, but this is putting it so casually, as if Joseph Smith knew exactly what he was saying. They carried out certain rites of reconciliation here, which is very common and has to be done, as far as that goes. It's unthinkable to omit it. Then they went back and told Gideon himself all that they told the men of Gideon about the king, his old rival. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, p. 125]