Geography: In order to “[come] up upon the north of the land of Shilom,” the Lamanites had to travel around Shilom and attack on the south of Lehi-Nephi. This maneuver splits the Zeniffite armies but also assumes that an attack on Lehi-Nephi would defeat Shilom’s fighting effectiveness; otherwise any army from Shilom would approach the Lamanite southern flank with the army from Lehi-Nephi on the north. This military plan would create a two-front battle, complicating the Lamanites’ attack.
Capturing Lehi-Nephi and the king would probably end the war. Only a plan for assuring just such a rapid capture could justify the Lamanite army’s deliberately moving between two armies.
Culture: The verse tells us that the Lamanites “had their heads shaved that they were naked.” Why would these warriors have shaved heads?
The pictorial convention for displaying captives was to show the victor grasping the hair of the captive. A Classic Maya vase from Nebaj, Guatemala (undated, but from the Classic period between A.D. 250 and A.D. 800), shows Lord Kan Xib Ahaw capturing warriors. Each of the three captured warriors is firmly held by his hair in the left hand of the captor.
It is possible that the Lamanite shaving of the heads was a symbolic gesture indicating that they had no intention of being captured. Rather than being a raiding party bent on tribute, the Lamanites were engaged in a blood feud and bound to take vengeance. Such a scenario is certainly a possibility, given the facts known about this particular conflict. However, there is no documentation for this practice.