In the Book of Mormon, members of the Gadianton network are consistently referred to as “robbers” rather than “thieves.” Why is this so?
EVIDENCE: Distinction Between Theft and Robbery
In ordinary American usage, the word thief and the word robber are basically synonymous, but under ancient Near Eastern and biblical law, there were definite differences between the two. A thief (Hebrew ganab) was generally a local person who stole from a neighbor. A thief was tried and punished civilly, usually by a court of his townspeople. But a robber (gedud) was usually someone from outside the community (e.g. a highwayman), and for his crimes he was dealt with by the military and could be quickly executed. In the Book of Mormon, Laban refers to the sons of Lehi as “robbers,” and threatens to slay them immediately, as a military officer would have dealt with robbers. Furthermore, the Lamanites are always said to “rob” from the Nephites, but not from their own people, which would be theft. Likewise, members of Gadianton’s band are always referred to as “robbers,” and never as “thieves.” Joseph Smith would not have known the ancient differences between these two words, as there is little difference between them in modern usage. And if he had relied on his King James version of the Bible, Joseph would have made mistakes in using the words, because the translators used the words thief and robber interchangeably. (See Echoes, 364–366.)