That they were brothers always permeated the thinking of the Nephites when the Lamanites were considered by them in a practical way. They both had the same ancestor, the venerable Lehi, and both therefore were of the House of Israel. Lehi was of the Tribe of Manasseh, but had dwelt in Jerusalem all his days. That was a tie that bound them, and the righteous Nephites of every generation considered it such. Time and time again the Nephites refused to destroy the Lamanites although to do so would have been a simple end to many problems that perplexed them. The greatest of these was the fear of the Lamanite incursions into outlying communities when in their savage glee they murdered and debauched the peaceful Nephites. The Nephite Armies by destroying the Lamanite Armies could thereby enfeeble their barbarous tactics.
Moroni was true to this high ideal. When he saw the confusion among the armies of the Lamanites and the terror that struck them, he withdrew his soldiers from the face to face conflict that engulfed them. Seeking out Zerahemnah, their leader, he proposed terms of surrender to him after reminding this self-same commander that in coming to battle with him, his (Moroni's) purpose was not to gain power by shedding blood, as was Zerahemnah's, nor to put into bondage those who were overcome by any treachery or strategem. "Ye know," Moroni warned Zerahemnah, "that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you." Not only was Zerahemnah ambitious to obtain the former of these things, but he was also imbued with the hatred that usually fills the hearts of apostates. Zerahemnah was a member of that apostate group who called themselves Zoramites, after their founder, Zoram, and who hated Christianity, the religion of the Nephites.
It is good that in our hearts we can note the difference between the ideals which God inspired in Moroni, and those which hatred and selfishness infused in the soldiers of Zerahemnah. He and his warriors sought power by purchasing it with blood; they hoped that with victory to enslave their opponents. On the other hand, Moroni denied that he nor his men were anxious for reprisal. The triumph of their arms was not an accident, but solely a gift of God. Our faith in Him and our sacred religion has delivered us from the snare you set to destroy us, and what is still more, "Ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto Him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith." Moroni now commanded Zerahemnah to cease his wicked ways, and deliver up to Moroni's men all his "weapons of war" and promise not to come again "to war against us." This command was given to Zerahemnah in the Name of God Who had preserved Moroni's armies, and "in the sacred support which "We owe," Moroni said, "to our wives and children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred Word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and all that is most dear to us."