Words of Mormon analysis

Words of Mormon analysis

May 2024

Jonathan Neville

Adapted from Chapter 11 of Whatever Happened to the Golden Plates?

There is ongoing debate about whether Joseph Smith translated one set of plates or two.

One set of plates. In this scenario, Moroni deposited all the plates Joseph translated into the stone box Moroni constructed on the hill Cumorah in New York.

Two sets of plates. In this scenario, Moroni deposited only the abridgment in the stone box he constructed on the hill Cumorah in New York. The small set of plates were not in the stone box.

The following table shows the specific points upon which the two scenarios agree and where they differ.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C-V6HlOxsKT0_C9qGJAqN-ieI3b4fY-J03S2gP5o1uQ/edit?usp=sharing 

Note: Words of Mormon 1:12-18 may have been what Joseph had “retained” when Martin Harris took the 116 pages. “Therefore, you shall translate the engravings which are on the plates of Nephi, down even till you come to the reign of king Benjamin, or until you come to that which you have translated, which you have retained; And behold, you shall publish it as the record of Nephi.”

(Doctrine and Covenants 10:41–42)

See discussion of that point below.

Physical placement. 

In Chapter 9a of my book Whatever Happened to the Golden Plates? I discussed why there was no physical place in the abridgement for Mormon to put the original plates of Nephi. For example, Joseph Smith explained that the Title Page was the “last leaf” of the plates, yet he translated that before he translated the plates of Nephi in Fayette, New York, in June.

Nevertheless, people have long assumed that Mormon somehow attached or otherwise bound the small plates of Nephi to his own abridgment. We know from the available descriptions that there were three ring binders that held his abridgement together. Presumably he put these three ring binders through the small plates as well. That is the premise for the tradition that Joseph translated only one set of plates.

For this to work, we must assume that the plates Mormon used to engrave his abridgment (Book of Lehi through Book of Mormon) were the same size as the original small plates of Nephi and that they already had rings through them of the same size and placement as the ones Mormon had through his abridgment. Otherwise, Mormon would have destroyed the engravings on the small plates when he pierced them to insert the three-ring binder.

While this is not an unreasonable assumption, we can readily see that alternative scenarios are equally, if not more, reasonable.

Words of Mormon. 

Separate from the practical physical implications, we look at the Words of Mormon to see what Mormon actually explained. While the one-set-of-plates scenario is a reasonable interpretation of Words of Mormon, a closer look supports a different view.

Words of Mormon 1:1-11 makes sense as a sort of title page for the small plates of Nephi. (Note that ancient people put the Title Page at the end. Recall that Joseph explained that the title page was found on the last leaf of the collection of plates.)

I propose that Mormon found the small plates, added his commentary, and kept them close by where he could refer to them as he edited the large plates. But he did not attach them to his abridgment.

Location of composition.

When Moroni first visited Joseph Smith, “He said this history was written and deposited not far from that place, and that it was our brother’s privilege, if obedient to the commandments of the Lord, to obtain and translate the same by the means of the Urim and Thummim, which were deposited for that purpose with the record.”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1834-1836/69

By “that place” Moroni referred to the location of the Smith home where Joseph was living. We know the history was “deposited” not far from there because Moroni told Joseph “the record is on a side hill on the Hill of Cumorah 3 miles from this place remove the Grass and moss and you will find a large flat stone pry that up and you will find the record under it laying on 4 pillars.”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/41

But notice that Moroni said the history was “written and deposited” not far from Joseph’s home. This means Mormon and Moroni wrote the record while living in the area; i.e., western New York. We can reasonably infer that they engraved the plates inside the repository of Nephite records in the hill Cumorah.

Mormon says as much here:

6 And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni.

(Mormon 6:6)

Mormon describes the process of abridging the history of the Nephites by writing that he “made this record out of the plates of Nephi.” He did not literally make the record out of the plates (which would mean he melt them down to make fresh plates). We could rephrase this by saying he “made this record by abridging the plates of Nephi.”

At one point, Mormon explained that “I write a small abridgment, daring not to give a full account of the things which I have seen.” (Mormon 5:9)

He also explained that “there are many records kept of the proceedings of this people, by many of this people, which are particular and very large, concerning them. But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people… cannot be contained in this work

(Helaman 3:13–14)

Mormon explained that his book was “a small record of that which hath taken place from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem, even down until the present time. Therefore I do make my record from the accounts which have been given by those who were before me, until the commencement of my day; And then I do make a record of the things which I have seen with mine own eyes.

(3 Nephi 5:15–17)

From these and other passages, we see that when he made his abridgment, Mormon consulted the collection of Nephite records in the repository in Cumorah. He apparently composed his abridgment while his people were gathering for their last stand against the Lamanites, an unspecified period of time that many readers assume was four years. This is based on Mormon 5:6, which says the Lamanites came against them in 380 AD, Mormon 6:2, which says Mormon wrote to the king of the Lamanites asking for time to gather (but doesn’t say when he wrote the epistle), and Mormon 6:5 which says they had gathered the people by 384 AD.

As we’ll see below, Mormon also explained that he “had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi.”

Annotation of Words of Mormon

In Words of Mormon 1:1-7, Mormon describes his discovery and inclusion of Nephi’s plates. The text is in bold below, and I’ve added my interlinear notes in brackets. I realize this is a lot of detail, but it’s important to go through it step-by-step.

Words of Mormon 1:1

1 And now I, Mormon, being about to deliver up the record which I have been making into the hands of my son Moroni,

[Traditionally, this passage has been interpreted to mean Mormon was finished with his abridgment at this point, but I think that’s an error. Mormon tells us he is still making the record; “have been making” is continuous, vs. “have made” which would mean the record was completed. This suggests that Mormon may have been giving his abridgment to his son in stages, as he completed major portions; i.e., the abridgment he has been making up to this point, which was the Book of Lehi.

This makes practical sense for several reasons. Maybe Moroni was proofreading it. Maybe Mormon wanted his son to learn the history and ask questions. Maybe Mormon was concerned that he might not be able to finish the entire abridgment. Maybe he gave the plates to Moroni for safekeeping. Regardless of the reason, we see in Mormon 6:6 that even after he finished his own book after abridging the entire Nephite history, he was giving Moroni only “these few plates,” suggesting that Moroni already had most of the abridgment.

Although the binding method is never mentioned in the text, we know from Joseph Smith and the witnesses that the plates were ultimately bound with three rings. We have no indication that Mormon ever bound the plates. Moroni added his own plates, along with his abridgment of the plates of Ether and the sealed portion. While we can infer Mormon bound his abridgment with the three rings, the text never tells us that. However, Moroni definitely added material to his father’s abridgment. It could be Moroni who created the rings and compiled the final set of plates.

Another consideration about the plates is the way Alma was able to “unfold the scriptures.” Alma 12:1. “Unfold” and “unfolding” are non-biblical terms unique to the Book of Mormon, used in connection with scriptures, mysteries, revelations, and king Mosiah’s “trials and troubles.” This implies that the Nephite records were “folded” as if on hinges.]

(1 continued) behold I have witnessed almost all the destruction of my people, the Nephites.

[Mormon has witnessed “almost all” the destruction; i.e., they are not yet completely destroyed. As we saw in Mormon 6:6, though, Mormon was already at Cumorah. In the chapters leading up to chapter 6, Mormon lays out the destruction of his people:

6 And it came to pass that in the three hundred and eightieth year the Lamanites did come again against us to battle, and we did stand against them boldly; but it was all in vain, for so great were their numbers that they did tread the people of the Nephites under their feet.

 7 And it came to pass that we did again take to flight, and those whose flight was swifter than the Lamanites’ did escape, and those whose flight did not exceed the Lamanites’ were swept down and destroyed.

 8 And now behold, I, Mormon, do not desire to harrow up the souls of men in casting before them such an awful scene of blood and carnage as was laid before mine eyes

(Mormon 5:6–8)

We see that his people were in retreat. Then Mormon asked for time to gather them together, which the King of the Lamanites granted.]

2 And it is many hundred years

[“Many hundred years” is really only about 400 years.]

(2 continued) after the coming of Christ that I deliver these records into the hands of my son; and it supposeth me that he will witness the entire destruction of my people.

[Mormon supposes Moroni will witness the entire destruction of his people, but it’s not a sure thing. This destruction is still in the future because he is still working on his abridgment. He gave his people the best chance he could by having them gather at the site of the ancient Jaredite fortress at Ramah. He hopes Moroni will survive (which he did). He incrementally gives as much of the record as he has completed to Moroni for safekeeping, as we discussed above.]

(2 continued) But may God grant that he may survive them,

[Mormon hopes Moroni will survive the final destruction of his people, which he did.]

(2 continued) that he may write somewhat concerning them, and somewhat concerning Christ,

[Mormon doesn’t write directly to Moroni, but he writes about Moroni in the third person. This musing on Mormon’s part suggests he is not giving the plates containing the Words of Mormon to Moroni. I infer from this that Mormon doesn’t expect Moroni to even see these comments. Mormon is sealing the small plates with a prayer. He also hopes Moroni will write about his people and about Christ, but says nothing about Moroni adding to his, Mormon’s, record.]

(2 continued) that perhaps some day it may profit them.

[If Moroni survives the destruction of Mormon’s people, how would Moroni’s writings profit those people? Perhaps Mormon hopes some of his people will survive along with Moroni. Alternatively, he is writing from a broader perspective about future generations; i.e., after the Restoration in the latter days.]

3 And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have written; for after I had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, down to the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake,

[Mormon abridged the plates of Nephi down to the reign of King Benjamin. This abridgment is presumably the Book of Lehi that Joseph dictated to Martin Harris in the spring of 1828. (See the Preface to the 1830 Edition of the Book of Mormon.)

Harris lost the manuscript and Joseph did not resume the translation until the fall (probably November) 1828, and then not in earnest until April 1829 when Oliver Cowdery came to Harmony. In D&C 10, the Lord told Joseph not to retranslate the Book of Lehi. At this time—when he gives the record he “has been making” to Moroni, Mormon has only completed his abridgment called the Book of Lehi. He has a long way to go.]

(3 continued) I searched

[Something prompted him to search for the “small plates.” Pres. Packer suggested it was reading Benjamin’s description to his sons that led Mormon to return to Jashon to find these small plates. This would mean Mormon was already abridging the records when his armies went to Jashon; i.e., he got the records when he was 24 years old, and returned to Jashon as military leader when he was 34.

Another possibility is that Mormon was searching for more source material because the brevity of the records kept by Jarom, Omni, Amaron, etc. corresponded to relative brevity as well in the records of their wars (see Jarom 1:14).]

(3 continued) among the records which had been delivered into my hands,

[Presumably these are the records Ammaron gave him charge over, as described in Mormon 1:3-4 and 4:23. This is a substantial collection of records as Brigham Young and others described that existed in the repository in Cumorah. See Chapter 13 of Whatever Happened about the Repository.]

(3 continued) and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.

[This “small account” is what we have today as 1 Nephi through Omni. They are usually called the “Small Plates of Nephi” because of this passage and 1 Nephi 9:2-4. In the context of the Book of Mormon, I think of them as the original plates of Nephi—the Fayette plates—as opposed to abridged plates—the Harmony plates—that Mormon engraved based on the large plates of Nephi.]

4 And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me,

[The next section is a parenthetical explanation of why the contents of the small plates pleased Mormon]

(4 continued) because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as have been prophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass—

[From his vantage point in the future, Mormon has seen the fulfillment of Nephi’s prophecies, and he knows they will continue to be fulfilled in the future. Imagine Mormon reading about the European discovery of America, the war of Independence, the founding of the Constitution, etc.]

5 Wherefore, I chose [choose] these things,

[i.e., the things which are upon the small (or original) plates of Nephi. He’s referring to the contents, not the physical plates, which is why he used the term things in both passages. Verses 4 and 5 both start by referring to things, plural. Note that Royal Skousen says chose here should be choose, present tense, as it probably was on the original manuscript. I agree, so I wrote it this way here. It’s an important distinction because it puts the choice in the present tense; i.e., Mormon is choosing these things to emphasize as he finishes the rest of his abridgment, which he will do in the future.]

(5 continued) to finish my record upon them,

[Mormon is not literally writing his record on the small plates—Amaleki explained those plates were full (Omni 1:30)—but he is finishing his record upon the prophecies recorded on the small plates.

This is similar to the way Mormon wrote that he “made this record out of the plates of Nephi.” He didn’t literally make the record out of the plates of Nephi by melting them down, but he made his abridgment based on the content of the plates of Nephi (both the large and the small plates).

“Finish my record upon them” is another way of saying that Nephi’s prophecies are the basis for the rest of his abridgement. Mormon chooses these things—these prophecies—to finish his record upon the prophecies, which will guide his editorial decisions for the remainder of his abridgement as he shows the fulfillment of the prophecies on the small plates.]

(5 continued) which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi;

[Mormon uses the future tense to explain he has yet to complete the rest of the abridgment. Ammaron told Mormon to take the plates of Nephi and engrave on those plates the things he has observed during his life (Mormon 1:4). Presumably, Mormon recorded history as it happened. Later, Mormon began the abridgment of the large plates. By the time he wrote Words of Mormon, he had only completed the abridgment through the reign of King Benjamin.

We call these historical records the Large Plates of Nephi to distinguish them from the small plates (which I call the Fayette plates). None of the original large plates were translated by Joseph Smith.]

(5 continued) and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people.

[Mormon emphasizes how selective he needs to be, which is why he found the small plates so helpful in the editorial process.]

6 But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and revelations,

[This description clarifies that he’s referring to the small plates, meaning the original plates of Nephi (the Fayette plates).]

(6 continued) and put them with the remainder of my record,

[Mormon put the small plates with the remainder of his record so he could refer to them as he continued his abridgment. A key question is the meaning of the phrase “put them with” in this context. Does it mean Mormon attached the small plates to his abridgement as many people assume? Did he punch holes in them and open the rings and add them? Nowhere does he state or imply that. As explained under verse 10 below, he simply put the small plates with his abridgement; i.e., he had them nearby, the way any historian keeps original source material nearby for reference.]

(6 continued) for they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.

[Mormon knows they will be choice unto his brethren, suggesting there are still some of his contemporaries for whom he has hope, or else he’s referring to his descendants and the descendants of the Lamanites).

 7 And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.

[This passage is often assumed to foreshadow the loss of the 116 pages, but in the context of what he had just written, it makes more sense that Mormon is referring to the inspiration he felt to (i) search for the small plates and (ii) use them to guide the rest of his abridgment; i.e., to write upon (about) the prophecies. The Spirit was telling Mormon to use the small plates to guide the rest of his abridgment.

That these plates provided a replacement for the lost 116 pages is providential, but the original records were always available in the repository in Cumorah as a backup. There must have been many duplicate records in case some other part of Joseph’s translation was lost. Perhaps Mormon also set aside the records of Limhi, for example. Or if King Benjamin’s sermon had been lost or destroyed, the original was available in the repository as a backup.

If Martin had not lost the 116 pages, we would never have known about these small plates. This was why Joseph referred to the “original Book of Mormon” as opposed to the one we have now.]

8 And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people.

[He’s still praying for his contemporaries (he referred to them as my brethren many times in the sermon in Moroni 7). He supposes Moroni will see the entire destruction, but he still has hope for them and prays they can be delightsome again.]

9 And now I, Mormon, proceed to finish out my record, which I take from the plates of Nephi; and I make it according to the knowledge and the understanding which God has given me.   

[Now he’s going to finish out his record. Presumably he’s still “about to give” Moroni the portion of his abridgment he has completed up to this point. He wrote this note as a sort of title page or explanatory page for the small plates, showing why he kept them out of the repository while he works on his abridgment. It is possible he made similar annotations on other records that he used directly, such as Alma’s discourses. These would still be in the repository of Nephite records, just as the small plates were in the repository until the messenger retrieved them to take to Fayette.]

10 Wherefore, it came to pass that after Amaleki had delivered up these plates into the hands of king Benjamin, he took them and put them with the other plates, which contained records which had been handed down by the kings, from generation to generation until the days of king Benjamin.      

[Here’s where we understand the meaning of the phrase “put them with.”

Benjamin put the small plates with the large plates, but that does not mean he attached them. After all, Mormon had the large plates, but he still had to search for the small plates. They were not attached to the large plates.

In plain English, the phrase put them with does not mean to attach them. It means to put them in proximity, next to, or together. It’s the same meaning we find in Ezekiel 37:19. No connotation of the Hebrew means to attach; instead, it means to place nearby, next to, on top of, adjacent to, etc.]

11 And they were handed down from king Benjamin, from generation to generation until they have fallen into my hands. And I, Mormon, pray to God that they may be preserved from this time henceforth. And I know that they will be preserved; for there are great things written upon them, out of which my people and their brethren shall be judged at the great and last day, according to the word of God which is written. 

[Verse 11 is Mormon’s “title page” for the small plates. The plates haven’t really “fallen into” Mormon’s hands; he had to search for them. But now he prays that they will be preserved from this time henceforth; in fact, he knows they will be preserved. This is another indication he did not give them to Moroni. He prays that Moroni will survive his people, but he doesn’t know that, not in the same way he knows the small plates will be preserved. That’s because he’s giving his abridgment to Moroni, but he’s keeping the small plates in the repository, which he knows will be safe.

This is another indication that Mormon was using the small plates going forward to preach repentance; if he was just giving them to Moroni for the future, his people could not then be judged out of them.

As I mentioned, Mormon may have annotated many of the other records in the repository. The small plates duplicated the lost 116 pages, or close enough, even though they didn’t replace the first two chapters of Mosiah. Our loss. But the Lord may have led Mormon to keep out several specific records, such as the sermons of Alma and Limhi’s records, in case other parts of the abridgment—the original Book of Mormon, as Joseph put it—were lost.]

12 And now, concerning this king Benjamin—he had somewhat of contentions among his own people.

[This appears to be a transition or bridge to the Book of Mosiah, either the part Joseph “retained” from the early translation or a summary dictated by Joseph Smith based on what he had learned when he translated the Book of Lehi (the 116 pages).]

13 And it came to pass also that the armies of the Lamanites came down out of the land of Nephi, to battle against his people. But behold, king Benjamin gathered together his armies, and he did stand against them; and he did fight with the strength of his own arm, with the sword of Laban. 

[This could be the first verse of page 117, the material Joseph retained when Harris took the 116 pages. See D&C 10:41. This flows directly into what is now Mosiah chapter 1.]

If, as I propose here, Mormon was thinking of his contemporary brethren, then why did he proceed to finish out his record with the summary of king Benjamin’s activities?

The most likely reason is that he didn’t.

For many years, scholars have tried to make sense of the idea that Mormon would have written a transition from his own Words of Mormon, written around 400 A.D., to the current Book of Mosiah. The proposed solutions seemed contorted.

Now that we have the printer’s manuscript to examine, we can see that our Mosiah Chapter 1 was almost certainly Chapter 3 in the original translation, meaning most of the first two chapters were on the lost 116 pages and we can make educated guesses about what was on page 117.

The bottom line: Words of Mormon originally ended with the current verse 11. Verse 12 was probably a transition provided by Joseph (who knew what was on the lost manuscript), and verses 13-18 were originally part of the Book of Mosiah.

In other words, the lost 116 pages included the first two chapters of the original Book of Mosiah. Page 117, which Joseph retained, began with our current verse 13.

An article in BYU Studies makes this case in some detail.[1] It’s an excellent article that I recommend because it includes Royal Skousen’s discussion of the gatherings used for the original manuscript.

The article follows the traditional order of translation, as I discussed in Chapter 9a in Whatever Happened. I won’t get into the detail—you should read the article—but resolving the question about the transition between the Words of Mormon and the Book of Mosiah helps support the idea that the small plates were a separate record.

Regardless of the reason for the short gathering, it appears that there was at least some translated material Harris did not take with him.

D&C 10:41 shows that Joseph had translated more than the 116 pages he gave to Martin Harris: “You shall translate the engravings which are on the [small] plates of Nephi, down even till you come to the reign of king Ben­jamin, or until you come to that which you have translated, which you have retained” (emphasis added). What he had retained was the end of Mosiah chapter 2 (which is now Words of Mormon verses 12–18) and perhaps more. Why did he retain it? Probably because it was written in the next gathering of manuscript pages, which, at the time, was only partially filled.[2]

This analysis leaves open the question of why they started another gathering instead of adding a sixth sheet to the fifth gathering, but we’ll probably never know why—unless the manuscript is recovered some day. And it may have been an earlier gathering that was short one sheet.

According to this theory, the sixth gathering (designated by Skousen as A6) would have included some of the material from the first part of Mosiah.

I agree with the reasoning as far as it goes, but because the authors assume the small plates were attached somehow to the abridged plates, the case isn’t as strong as it would otherwise be.

Look at how the narrative flows:

9 And now I, Mormon, proceed to finish out my record, which I take from the plates of Nephi; and I make it according to the knowledge and the understanding which God has given me.

10 Wherefore, it came to pass that after Amaleki had delivered up these plates into the hands of king Benjamin, he took them and put them with the other plates, which contained records which had been handed down by the kings, from generation to generation until the days of king Benjamin.

11 And they were handed down from king Benjamin, from generation to generation until they have fallen into my hands. And I, Mormon, pray to God that they may be preserved from this time henceforth. And I know that they will be preserved; for there are great things written upon them, out of which my people and their brethren shall be judged at the great and last day, according to the word of God which is written.

If Mormon was sealing the small plates with what is effectively his title page, this is the natural ending place.

But instead of ending there, the text continues with a parenthetical bridge—verse 12—and then a historical narrative similar to the rest of Mormon’s account. It is completely different from the preceding 11 verses. Instead, it flows organically into Chapter 1 of Mosiah.

13 And it came to pass also that the armies of the Lamanites came down out of the land of Nephi, to battle against his people. But behold, king Benjamin gathered together his armies, and he did stand against them; and he did fight with the strength of his own arm, with the sword of Laban.

14 And in the strength of the Lord they did contend against their enemies, until they had slain many thousands of the Lamanites. And it came to pass that they did contend against the Lamanites until they had driven them out of all the lands of their inheritance.

15 And it came to pass that after there had been false Christs, and their mouths had been shut, and they punished according to their crimes;

16 And after there had been false prophets, and false preachers and teachers among the people, and all these having been punished according to their crimes; and after there having been much contention and many dissensions away unto the Lamanites, behold, it came to pass that king Benjamin, with the assistance of the holy prophets who were among his people—

17 For behold, king Benjamin was a holy man, and he did reign over his people in righteousness; and there were many holy men in the land, and they did speak the word of God with power and with authority; and they did use much sharpness because of the stiffneckedness of the people—

18 Wherefore, with the help of these, king Benjamin, by laboring with all the might of his body and the faculty of his whole soul, and also the prophets, did once more establish peace in the land.

We don’t have the original manuscript for this part of the text, but we do have the printer’s manuscript. There, the Book of Mosiah originally began at the end of what is now Words of Mormon 1: 18, designated by a dash and the words Chapter III, followed by another dash, and then what we now know as Mosiah 1:1.

An unidentified person crossed out the last two numerals, making it Chapter 1. From this, scholars infer that the 116 pages included the first two chapters of Mosiah. These chapters presumably started with an account of King Mosiah, which is why the book is named that way.

On the printer’s manuscript, the phrase “the Book of Mosiah” is inserted above the line. The note in the Joseph Smith Papers says, “possibly inserted after the time of the original inscription.” However, it is in Oliver’s handwriting.

John Tvendtnes observed:

Joseph Smith may have chosen to place the title “Book of Mosiah” in its current place because Mosiah 1:1 is where he took up the story after turning over the 116 pages to Martin Harris. If this is true, then Words of Mormon 1:12-18 evidently represent part of the record already translated before the loss of the 116 pages. Joseph may have retained this part (cf. D&C 10:41) because it was on a page which had not yet been filled. The book of Mosiah, in this case, was probably named after the first Mosiah, whose history would have been part of the lost pages; otherwise, one might expect the book to be named after Benjamin. But this is by no means certain.[3]

Joseph was instructed to translate the plates of Nephi—what we now call the “small plates of Nephi”—“down even till you come to the reign of king Benjamin” (D&C 10:41). That seems to be what he did here.

________________

[1] Jack M. Lyon and Kent R. Minson, “When Pages Collide: Dissecting the Words of Mormon,” BYU Studies, 51:4 (2012), available online at https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/when-pages-collide-dissecting-words-mormon. A contrary view that suggests there was no page 117 retained by Joseph is Brant Gardner, “When Hypotheses Collide: Responding to Lyon and Minson’s ‘When Pages Collide,’” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 5 (2013): 105-119, online at http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/when-hypotheses-collide-responding-to-lyon-and-minsons-when-pages-collide/.

[2] Ibid.

[3] John A. Tvedtnes, “Book Review of Jerald and Sandra Tanner's Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon,” in Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3 1991, pp. 201-203, online here: http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1426&index=19.