Historical: As with the proskynesis event, the “one voice” declaration may also have been an orchestrated part of the pageant:
“In the ancient world, ‘the hazzan, the praecentor, or the stasiarch, would be handed a piece of paper,…. Then the emperor…or someone else would tell him what he wanted the people to chant.’ Referring to the account of Nathan the Babylonian, ‘the whole thing is directed by the man on the tower. The old man, the praecentor, comes down, they ask questions, the king interprets the law to them, and they all answer together…It isn’t as if they all spontaneously recited this whole thing in one voice. It says it was in one voice, but that’s the way it was done” (Nibley, Hugh, cited in “Complete Text of Benjamin’s Speech with Notes and Comments.” In: King Benjamin’s Speech. FARMS 1998, p. 571).
One point that must be remembered, however, is that we are looking at Mormon’s synopsis of the event, not the original text. Note the very first line of verse 2: “And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth.” This sentence is given as a cause for the proskynesis, but it requires being inside the mind of the entire population. The address certainly had an effect upon the people. It is quite likely that these were the precise feelings of every one of the prostrate population. However, it is much more likely that this is an interpretation of the event. The language is taken from Benjamin’s address, and presages the beginning of Benjamin’s next discourse. This continues to suggest Mormon as an editor creating linking material that is pulled both from the previous and subsequent address.
Similarly, the text of the unified declaration may also be an interpretation of the declaration – or at the very least, a copy of Mormon’s sources description of the events. In a spontaneous event, the intent of the declaration would have been present without the specific text. If this was truly a spontaneous event, then the specific words declared would have been added to the situation after the fact, a process quite common in ancient texts.
If the text are give was the precise declaration of the people, then this event was clearly scripted, as a text of that length and complexity would not spontaneously occur to all of the assembled population. Regardless of the spontaneous or scripted nature, however, the spiritual intent of the population was the same. They were truly humbled, sufficient that the Spirit would visit them (next verse).