In the first attempt of the brothers to obtain the plates, Laman was selected by the casting of lots to go into the house of Laban and talk with him in his house (3:11). Although chosen by divination, Laman was inept in his attempt. At the same time, it is amazing that he got as far as he did.
But turning attention to Laban’s blameworthiness, Nephi’s narrative tells that Laban soon grew angry. He threatened Laman with a serious indictment: "Behold thou art a robber, and I will slay thee" (3:13). Anger was a strong factor in assigning culpability in homicide cases under biblical law (see Num. 35:20, 22; Deut. 19:4, 6). Samson became angry about the men cheating to get the answer to his riddle and unjustly killed thirty Philistines (Judges 14:19), leading to Samson’s own death. Saul threatened Jonathan in anger, wrongly demanding that David be slain (1 Sam. 20:30–33), and Saul in turn died.
Notice that Laban called Laman a "robber." Lehi and his four sons had left Jerusalem and gone out into the wilderness, and at a superficial level that is the kind of thing that bands of robbers did. So, when Laban accused Laman of being a robber, perhaps Laban was hoping that the charge would stick. No wonder Laman was scared. Because robbers were outlaws or bandits, they could be put to death summarily through military channels without a trial. Bandits and brigands, as public enemies who themselves rejected the validity of the central government, could not expect to be given a trial of any kind within the established system. Therefore, Laban’s threat was not an idle gesture. Vehemently calling him a robber is, of course, an unfair characterization of Laman. However, he had come with a band of brothers and so he could plausibly be characterized as a robber. At least, he would be terrified by such a threat, and he fled for his life from Laban’s house (1 Nephi 3:14).
As a result, the brothers were about to abandon the cause, but Nephi bound himself with another unbreakable oath: "As the Lord liveth and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us" (3:15). Making himself subject to a vow of this nature, Nephi in effect pledged his life ("as we live") to obtain the plates of brass. In committing himself and his brothers in this way, he was well aware of the difficulties they would face. He swore that they would succeed, God willing, or die trying, for the plates were needed in order to "preserve unto our children the language of our fathers, and also the words spoken by all holy prophets from the beginning of the world even down to the present" (3:19–20).
Nephi recognized the hand of the Lord in his life. Nephi had great faith when he went forward thinking, "I don’t know what will happen, but I know the Lord can make it work." A huge part of faith is to recognize the Lord’s hand in your life, acknowledge it and then seek it. Laban had a prominent house. There would be other people as part of the household. And yet, Laman was able to flee and get away when his life was threatened by Laban. Did Nephi and maybe even Laman recognize that the Lord had protected him in helping him get away?