6
But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these prophesyings and
revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for they are choice
unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.
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.
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.
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.
Words of Mormon 1:6-9
Speaking
of the small plates, Mormon tells us that, having found the small plates, and
having been pleased by its contents, he put them, unabridged, with the rest of
his records because he “knew they will be choice unto my brethren.”
John
S. Thompson further explains:
“Assuming
that Mormon simply inserted Nephi’s small plates intact into the compilation of
gold plates that Joseph Smith later received—a point that can be argued
from Words of Mormon 1:6 … then the plates that Joseph Smith received may
have been written using two different scripts. One—containing regular,
identifiable features of the Egyptian language contemporary to Lehi—would have
been used by Nephi on the small plates. The rest of the record (Mormon and
Moroni’s abridgment of Nephi’s large plates and the plates of Ether) would have
been written using the altered script of Mormon’s day.”[1]
We’re
first introduced to the small plates of Nephi in 1 Nephi 6. Why was he commanded to make the small
plates? “Wherefore, the Lord hath
commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I
know not” (1 Nephi 9:5).
Alma2,
talking to his son Helaman , explained, “And I also command you that
ye keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of
Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept
them; for it is for a wise purpose that they are kept” (Alma 37:2).
Mormon
includes the plates “for a wise purpose, for thus it whispereth me, according
to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me.” He puts his faith in the Lord because He “knoweth
all things.”
John
W. Welch writes:
“Once
again and from yet another dimension, we can appreciate the depth and value of
the precious small plates of Nephi. In the end, Mormon included them in his
final compilation of the Nephite records for a reason yet unknown to him (Words
of Mormon 1:7), but in their own day these plates served many choice and
crucial purposes for the immediate ‘profit’ of the ‘people’ of Nephi (2 Nephi
5:30).”[2]
Here,
again, we see concern for the Lamanites (“my brethren”). Mormon prayed that one day the Lamanites will
return to the knowledge of God and the redemption of Christ, and become a
delightsome people.
Mormon,
having given us some background, it now going to return back to the plates and
continue his record.
[1]
Lehi and Egypt, John S. Thompson, Maxwell Institute,
[2]
Why Nephi Wrote the Small Plates: The Political Dimension, John W. Welch,
Maxwell Institute,
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