In this final section of the book of Helaman, we are given an extensive record of the words of Samuel the Lamanite. It even includes the words in Helaman 14:25 that had been omitted, an oversight for which Jesus gently chided Nephi and the disciples. Samuel’s words were important, and Jesus wanted to be sure that they were included among the Nephite records (see 3 Nephi 23:9–13). With that high level of attention given to the details and completeness of Samuel’s prophetic speech, readers can be quite confident that Mormon would not have taken anything out of this record or tampered editorially with it, even if he might otherwise have been tempted to do so. The speech is in some ways rather raw and repetitive. But it was given under the pressures of the moment, and its bold spontaneity bares the authentic marks of a traditional prophetic curse oracle.
Mormon also had several of his own reasons for wanting to include all the words of Samuel in his record. For example, in Mormon chapter 1, he is sorry to say that he “was forbidden to preach unto [his own people], because of the hardness of their hearts” (Mormon 1:17), and that the Gadianton robbers again “did infest the land” (Mormon 1:18), as they had in Samuel’s day (Helaman 11:24-37). And so, it is all the more exactly on target for Mormon to refer to the fulfilling in his own day “of all the words of Abinadi, and also Samuel the Lamanite” (Mormon 1:19). Mormon, of course, knew where his story was headed, even as he abridged it. Hence, he gave special attention to the full inclusion of these prophetic words of warning in particular.