Now I, Chemish, write what few things I write, in the same book with my brother; for behold, I saw the last which he wrote, that he wrote it with his own hand; and he wrote it in the day that he delivered them unto me. And after this manner we keep the records, for it is according to the commandments of our fathers. And I make an end.
How long Chemish kept the record is not given. Since he was a brother of Amaron, and of the same generation, the time period he covered was probably quite short. He didn’t really contribute anything to the record. His record is the shortest of the eleven engravers on the plates. The inclusion of these three sentences is indicative that Joseph Smith did not write the book. If he was the author, he would not have included such details.