Jacob ends his speech with the words, "I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen" (Jacob 6:13). Brant Gardner notes that Jacob's words appear to be an absolute farewell, appropriate to a dying man. Yet Jacob clearly lives for years after this discourse, as will be apparent in the next chapter. Why the finality of this statement?
Sidney Sperry previously has written the following opinion on this situation:
It is very probable that Jacob meant to end his book at this point; the quotation seems to imply that fact. However, later events caused him to add the historical matter now found in the last chapter of his record. (Sidney B. Sperry, Book of Mormon Compendium, p. 266)
However, according to Gardner, the problem with this analysis is that it recognizes the finality of the statement, but misses the intended audience. Here Jacob is addressing his own people, whereas in his final statement in Jacob 7:27 ("to the reader I bid farewell") there is no question but that Jacob is speaking to the later readers of his text. The fact that the first farewell was made in the context of a recorded sermon suggests a different explanation.
Gardner suggests that this discourse of Jacob represents Jacob's final discourse as a head priest. What is final is not his life, but his position, and it is the termination of his functioning in that position that evokes Jacob's "farewell" here in Jacob 6:13. Jacob's farewell is a formal one, which places his position as a mouthpiece for God against the actions of his people and their leaders. He declares that the ultimate judgment between them (the congregation he is exhorting and himself) will be at the bar of God.
Now one might say, What evidence may be presented for this hypothesis? The first is the apparent marginalization of Jacob. In this sermon he appears to have little power, and exerts only the power of personal testimony in his discourse. Secondly, by the words of his sermon there is a very clear cultural shift occurring in the population, evidenced by multiple wives and concubines. The apparent influx of ideas and trade from outside influences has led to social stratification and the seeking of riches among his people. (See the commentary on Jacob 2-3.) Thus, it would only be a matter of time until the wealthy and socially elite would gain greater say in the governance of the community. Since the evidence of this sermon suggests that there was little or no repentance after his first sermon, we would have the situation of a prophet verbally attacking the character of the leaders of the community. That is a situation that such leaders would not long endure, and since they had not and would not conform themselves to Jacob's requests for repentance, the next logical step would be for the removal of Jacob from an official position.
This suggested removal of Jacob from a position in the official religious structure explains some interesting subtleties in the story of Jacob and Sherem which follows. [Brant Gardner, "Brant Gardner's Page, "[http://www.highfiber.com/~nahualli/LDStopics/Jacob/] Jacob5.htm, pp. 9-11]