Textual: The source for Mormon’s description of Moroni is not clear. These verses read like a synopsis Mormon has created out of the evidence before him. It is unlikely that these specific words were found on Mormon’s source plates, so what they appear to represent is Mormon’s feeling for Moroni the man based on the information that was on the plates. It would not be unusual for the physical prowess of Moroni to be described as part of the descriptions of the military actions, so that is a theme that is quite likely to have been on the plates, even if not in these words. The evidence for Moroni’s longing for freedom for his people is certainly part of the source, because Mormon has given us at least some of that material in the discussion of the Title of Liberty. When Mormon peeks into the mind of Moroni to tell us that he “was a man of a perfect understanding,” he must be referencing material that he did not elect to put in our current text. There must have been more material about Moroni on the plates, and Mormon has had to abridge that information, as he has all of the rest of the material.
What we can learn from these verses is that Mormon had been reading his sources for years before beginning to write. He had obviously developed a tremendous respect for the historical chief captain Moroni, a respect that is not only reflected in these verses, but is logically the reason for naming his own son after the man he had come to know through his reading.