Original Chapter 1. Comprising chapters 1 to 5 inclusive
And I also spake unto him, saying: Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord? Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place with us.
In Royal Skousen’s “The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text”, 1 Nephi 4:34 reads a little differently:
In my opinion this difference of “commandment” rather than “commandments” has implications for how the verse is understood. Nephi is not speaking in general about “keeping the commandments” (though he would approve of such a message) but is speaking about keeping the specific commandment that God gave to Lehi that his sons should return to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates.
It could be meaningful to ponder the difference between having a general resolve to keep the commandments as opposed to having a specific resolve to perform a specific commandment. Nephi took on a difficult task and this verse, in which Nephi speaks to Zoram, shows his ability to focus on what needs to be done and to work to persuade others to assist him in achieving that purpose.