The oath to defend Nephite liberty that these young men take may have been their own idea (paralleling, perhaps, their parents’ oath) or it may have been one expected of Nephite soldiers, especially given the disloyalty of the dissenters. There is no question that Nephite oaths had serious binding power. (See commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 4:31–35, Alma 24:6–22, and Alma 44:5–20.)