Geographic: The Nephite prisoners were being held in the city of Gid. Gid is not far from Bountiful on the eastern front, telling us that while Moroni has had a great victory at Mulek, there are still pockets of Lamanite strength. Using Sorenson’s map, we have Gid between Bountiful and Mulek, but not on the direct path of march. It is also closer to the center of the Nephites, away from the coast that forms that eastern border. It is possible that the stratagem employed against the Lamanites in Gid served not only to preserve life, but to lessen the risk to the city itself, since Gid was a Nephite city until its capture by the Lamanites.
Social: The stratagem to retake the Nephites who are held prisoner requires a Lamanite. Moroni searches through his army, and finds a Lamanite who is one of the former retinue of the Lamanite king that was forced out of his homeland by Amalickiah’s treachery. It is not surprising to see someone so wronged pick up arms against the man (and now that man’s brother) who had so wrongly driven him from home.
What is interesting in this situation is the requirement of a Lamanite. Why was one needed? What was there about this man that could not be replicated by a non-Lamanite? Of course the first presumption, conditioned by years of assumptions, is that he must be darker skinned while the Nephites were “white.” If we accept this reason, then it is the visual clue that is important.
That is unlikely, given the description we have in verse 8. There are several aspects of the description of the arrival of this Lamanite that are important. The very first is that he is not alone. Moroni has selected other men to go with him. When he arrives at the Lamanite camp, he is not alone, but has the others with him. Moroni had searched through his army for a Lamanite, and came up with one. These others that were with him were, therefore, not Lamanites. However, they approach with the one “true” Lamanite. If the visual clue of skin color were adequate, then these others would immediately be given away as Nephites. The skin color issue is further complicated by the fact that the Lamanite armies are being led by a recent Nephite dissenter. In addition to the leader, we know that many of those who were in the city of Nephi and who had ejected the people of Ammon were also Nephite dissenters. Even if skin color had ever been diagnostic, it was surely impossible to use skin color as the defining difference.
The next clue to the need for a “true” Lamanite comes when we see that particular person doing the talking. It is he who verbally declares himself a Lamanite. If the visual clues would have been insufficient, the verbal assertion is accepted immediately. What this tells us is that there is a language difference between the two. Clearly the language barrier is not great, because Nephite dissenters are able to easily assimilate into the Lamanite ranks. However, there must be some differences, either in dialect or accent. It is for this reason that the “true” Lamanite was required. When the target Lamanites heard his voice, they needed to be able to recognize it as truly “Lamanite,” rather than whatever audible clue they would have had that the party was actually Nephite. As long as the rest of the Nephite party were silent, this ruse would be sufficient.