The 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon did not begin a chapter with these verses. However, verse one clearly shows a shift in king Benjamin’s discourse. The “and again” phrase signals something different, after which he very specifically says, “I would call your attention.” This is not just a new theme, it is important.
The previous part of Benjamin’s speech declared that Jehovah still covenanted with this people. Benjamin had repeated the promise of the land, and discussed faithfulness to the covenant and the cursing on those who would separate from it. Most recently, he dealt with justice and mercy. Undoubtedly, that was intended to set the stage for the next part of the discourse. Benjamin declares, “I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come.”
That concern with “that which is to come” in the Book of Mormon refers to the earthly mission of the Messiah. That is precisely what the topic will be as Benjamin continues. He opens by noting that this information came from an angel. For the Nephites, this was evidence that Benjamin was, as tradition would expect, in communication with Jehovah. This is presented as a new revelation, in spite of the fact that modern readers are familiar with the information on the Messiah’s mission from the small plates. Those small plates were given to Benjamin as recorded at the end of the book of Omni, but we cannot know if it was before or after this discourse. Since Benjamin is nearing the end of his life, we may suspect that they were given earlier. Nevertheless, they are not used as the substantiation of the truth of this message. This is a newer revelation given directly to Benjamin.