Korihor’s argument is presented more expansively here. He repeats the charge we had seen above that the Nephites are following the foolish traditions of their fathers, but now he adds a more serious accusation. Those traditions are binding them down. The imagery of binding is the imagery of capture and subjugation. Korihor accuses the Nephite priests of usurping power and authority.
This is an interesting charge that is typically used by Lamanites. Perhaps this is a more firm indication that Korihor is not a Nephite apostate, but rather a Lamanite who is on his own missionary journey – an interesting mirror to the missionary journey of the sons of Mosiah. Perhaps the presence of this particular story immediately following the story of the sons of Mosiah is designed to be seen as a contrast to the successful mission of the sons of Mosiah to the Lamanites. If Korihor were a Lamanite missionary to the Nephites, it may explain even better the reason for his journey to Jershon and then Gideon. He would have had even more reason to believe that he might be accepted by peoples who had already had experience with the Lamanite philosophy.
It should be noted at this point, however, that Korihor is not representative of what the majority of Lamanites would have believed at this point in time. If we assume our Mesoamerican location, Korihor would not have been a typical Lamanite, but rather a separate philosopher. We do not have much evidence for the internal divisions in Maya religion, but there is good evidence for the Aztec religion at a later time that there were differences in the understanding of religion. This included not only differing versions of the religious mythologies, but also in certain philosophies.