Probably the most accepted traditional view about the content of the book The Words of Mormon has been written recently by Eldin Ricks:
"As [Mormon] shifts from the explanatory portion of the Words of Mormon to the historical portion, he announces, "And now I Mormon, proceed to finish out my record, which I take from the plates of Nephi . . ." (WofM 1:9). We understand this statement simply to mean that he returned to the large plates of Nephi, his basic source book, to obtain the information for the historical addition to the small plates of Nephi that comprise verses 9-18. As we probe further into the abbreviated historical notes that Mormon added to the small plates of Nephi, we see that they carry the reader from the point in the early lifetime of king Benjamin where the small plates of Nephi end to the point late in Benjamin's lifetime where the book of Mosiah begins. Mormon's appendage leads one smoothly and directly into his abridgment of the book of Mosiah. [Eldin Ricks, "The Small Plates of Nephi and the Words of Mormon," in The Book of Mormon: Jacob through Words of Mormon, To Learn with Joy, pp. 209-219]
If we accept this theory, then we must ask a number of questions about not only why Mormon chose to summarize Benjamin's reign, but why he even included this historical summary (Words of Mormon 1:9-18) in the first place:
1. If The Book of Mosiah begins with the record of Mosiah2, then what happened to the record of Mosiah1 and the record of King Benjamin which were part of the large plates?
2. Mosiah2 is not anointed king until chapter 6 (v. 4) of the book of Mosiah. Are chapters 1-5 also to be considered part of the record of Mosiah2?
3. If Amaleki finished the small plates and delivered them up to King Benjamin during "the early lifetime of King Benjamin," then why would Mormon think he had to make a summary of the history of King Benjamin's reign? Why didn't Mormon just tie the small plates into the "early" part of King Benjamin's reign? Could it be that Amaleki turned the small plates over to King Benjamin in the latter part of his reign?
4. What are the chances that the recorded history of the small plates plus the history included in The Words of Mormon would fit exactly into the void left by the loss of the 116 pages of manuscript?
When did Amaleki deliver his record to Benjamin? According to the proposed chronology chart in Appendix A, the beginning of the reign of Mosiah1 has been tentatively placed in the year 397-8 , when he attained the age of 30 and the end of his reign has been tentatively placed forty years later, when he reached the age of 70. Amaleki states, "I was born in the days of Mosiah" (Omni 1:23), which means that Amaleki would have had to be born sometime after the beginning of Mosiah1's reign. This also means that it might be possible that Amaleki could have been born roughly the same time as Benjamin. If Amaleki and Benjamin lived approximately the same number of years, then Amaleki would have turned over the plates towards the latter part of Benjamin's reign in the year 468 (roughly 30-40 years into Benjamin's reign).
[Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See Appendix A]
Words of Mormon 1:10 Amaleki . . . delivered up these [small] plates into the hands of king Benjamin (Nephite Record Keepers) [[Illustration]]: Nephite Record Keepers. Adapted from [Church Educational System, Book of Mormon Student Manual: Religion 121 and 122, 1989, p. 155]