Suggested purposes Words of Mormon verses 12–18 have continuity with the first part of Mosiah; Jack M. Lyon and Kent R. Minson hypothesize it was originally dictated as part of a now missing portion of the
Book of Mosiah. Brant Gardner suggests that
Joseph Smith wrote verses 12–18 as a summary or bridge back into the large plates and that these verses were not part of the original dictation. In another perspective, religious studies scholar
Grant Hardy states that that Mormon's mention of King Benjamin links the
Book of Omni with the
Book of Mosiah. Mormon narrates that he doesn't know why he is including the small plates with the large ones. Latter Day Saints believe that the inclusion serves as a replacement for the
116 pages that were lost during translation of the Book of Mormon. Author Benjamin Keogh suggests that Mormon's explanation indicates that he views the inclusion of the small plates as an appendix to the larger record. Keogh further suggests that, for the small plates, Words of Mormon may serve a similar purpose as the title page of the Book of Mormon.
Style Donald W. Parry broke up the Book of Mormon into its chiastic and other poetic patterns. In Words of Mormon, he identified two instances of
chiasmus: The first appears in verses 3-11 with an "ABcbcacababCDEFFEDCBabcA" pattern; the second is in verses 15–16 with an "abcabc" pattern. In an article about the Words of Mormon, theologian Benjamin Keogh searched for meaning in Mormon's frequent use of "these". He suggested that Mormon may be referencing prophets, holy men, or the plates themselves.
Suggested prejudice The authors Fatimah Salleh and Margaret Hemming claim that throughout the narrative of the Book of Mormon the Nephites are prejudiced toward the Lamanites. They point out that in Words of Mormon the author calls the Lamanites the brethren of his people, and avoids calling them his own brethren. This, Salleh and Hemming claim, is connected to Nephite prejudice. ==References==