Nephi left his brothers outside the city wall, and by night, "crept into the city and went forth towards the house of Laban" (1 Nephi 4:5). According to Reynolds and Sjodahl, just how and why Nephi "crept" into the city is not explained. In the large gates of a walled city, there was a small door or rather window, through which those who were entitled to enter might do so, when the gate was closed for the night. Nephi might have literally "crept" in through such an aperture, by the grace of the watchman. It was always a small opening, sometimes only two feet square. Nephi, the son of a prominent, well-to-do citizen, coming alone to the gate, a belated wanderer unfortunately overtaken by the shadows of the night, might readily have obtained an entrance through what some have called "the needle's eye," particularly if he had a piece of money with which to make his account of himself plausible. If the brothers had come together at that hour, however, suspicions might have been aroused. The wisdom that inspired Nephi is seen in his conduct, and his account is so simple, so natural, as to make a perfect impression of its authenticity on the mind of the careful reader. [George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, pp. 36-37]
1 Nephi 4:5 I, Nephi, crept into the city [by night] ([Illustration]): Nighttime exposure of the Kidron Valley on the east and south of the city Jerusalem. The brothers could have come up this way and easily secreted themselves in this ravine outside the walls of the city while Nephi crept in to find Laban. [Scot and Maurine Proctor, Light from the Dust, pp. 20-21]