In Nephi's narrative he writes that he "beheld a man, and he had fallen to the earth before me, for he was drunken with wine. And when I came to him I found that it was Laban" (1 Nephi 7:7-8). The words "fallen" and "drunken" are used in the scriptures in association with people who have rejected the Lord's covenant to a point that they are ripe for destruction (see Jeremiah 13:9-15; Mormon 6:16-19). This could have been Nephi's implication relative to the state of Laban. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]
“He Was Drunken with Wine”
According to Reynolds and Sjodahl, the Hebrews were not, generally speaking, an intemperate people, but they enjoyed festivals. . . . It is not improbable that Laban had celebrated, in the midst of convivial friends, his acquisition of the property of Lehi, for that was an unexpected "harvest." There are some notable instances of intemperate drinking on record in the Hebrew Scriptures. One less known might be of interest here. In 1 Samuel 25:1-38, we find that Nabal was a wealthy sheep owner. On one occasion, when Nabal was feasting with his shearers, David (who had fled from Saul and was with his followers in the wilderness) sent word to him and asked for food as a recognition for the [apparent covenant] protection David had given to him and his flocks. Nabal refused. David then prepared for a raid on his property. But Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saved the situation by sending to David, without the knowledge of her husband, a handsome gift of provisions. In the meantime, Nabal feasted and drank. The next day, when he heard what his wife had done, he suffered a heart attack: "His heart died within him, and he became as a stone." About ten days afterwards he died. [George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, p. 37] [See the commentary on 1 Nephi 3:3]
Note* The condition of Laban (in a "drunken" and "fallen" state) is symbolic in scripture of a covenant people ripe for destruction because of disobedience to the covenant. If Laban was the covenant caretaker of the record of Joseph (the plates of brass), and if this story is also meant to be symbolic, then he had apparently not been obedient to his covenant responsability relative to the plates. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]