Did Laban truly possess a sword of steel? Such a weapon is historically improbable for Jerusalem in 600 BCE, as steelmaking technology was only beginning to emerge during that period.

“And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.”

1 Nephi 4:9, Book of Mormon Comparative (West Valley City, UT: Dan Wees, August 2017), 13.