Chronology: The sixth year of the reign of the judges would be approximately 87 B.C., since the first year of the reign of the judges occurred 509 years after the departure from Jerusalem. Apparently, both counts overlap in that year rather than having one end and the other begin. In no other way will the time frame fit with the birth of Christ, which this correlation assumes occurred in ca. 4 B.C. (See commentary accompanying 3 Nephi 1:1.) While the previous year had been filled with contentions and wars, this year sees neither. (See commentary accompanying Alma 3:24–25 for Mormon’s use of “contentions.”)
Redaction: The marking of the year and the presentation of some information of what happened in that year has been a technique Mormon has used before. It is also a technique known in later Mesoamerican documents.
Verse 2 contrasts with the conditions in verse 1. Mormon has finished a chapter on wars and contentions, then notes that the next year had none. While this might seem a very good thing (and it was), it does not adequately describe conditions in Zarahemla. Verse 1 gives the good news for the year, in contrast to the bad news beginning in verse 2.