Textual: This header is included in the original text. The original edition has the entire prophecy of Samuel as a single chapter, so the note on the pertaining chapters is an addition required by the subsequent change in the chapters. Note the parallel to the header of our current Helaman 7 where we find “the Prophecy of Nephi, the son of Helaman.” As Mormon is closing out his recording of the events of the book of Helaman, he does so by inserting two sections that he specifically labels.
This is not a typical practice for Mormon, and has been used to mark a variation in sources (such as the record of Zeniff, Mosiah 9, and the account of Alma the Elder: Mosiah 23). In this case, it marks two prophecies. Mormon is highlighting both of these events, and marking them specifically for their distinction as prophecies. In both cases, they are fulfilled prophecies. Mormon is using these prophecies as extra witness to the coming of the Messiah, even while he also uses them as part of the chronological progression towards that even.
From a textual standpoint, our difficulty with the prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite is where it was written. In the original state of the record of Helaman, it was apparently not written at all. When the Savior does appear in the New World, he calls for the records of the people and we have the following information about Samuel the Lamanite:
3 Nephi 23:7-13
7 And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept.
8 And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:
9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?
10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.
11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?
12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.
13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.
At issue at this point in our discussion is the textual transmission of the message of Samuel the Lamanite. One interpretation of the above passages is that the part that was not written was limited to the fulfillment of prophecy, implying that the rest of Samuel’s ministry was accurately recorded:
“Noting by his omniscient grasp of every circumstance that some elements of past manifestations might not have been fully or accurately recorded, Christ called for Nephi to bring forth the records that had been kept. With the records open before him, the Savior inquired why a significant fulfillment of the prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite had not been recorded. Samuel had prophesied that in the days of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection in the Old World, many Saints in the New World would arise from the dead, appearing and ministering unto many. The Savior asked if, in fact, Samuel did declare this. Nephi readily acknowledged that Samuel did so. However, when pressed on the matter by Jesus, Nephi remembered that the fulfillment of that prophecy had not been written. “How be it,” the Savior asked, “that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them? And … Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.” At the Savior’s direction, it was added to the record immediately, and he continued to expound “all the scriptures in one” from the records they had written, commanding them to teach the things he had given them.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1997], 292 - 293.)
Certainly this is the most literal reading of 3 Nephi 23:11, but it is probably too limited. Why was not that fulfillment mentioned? It is quite probable that nothing of Samuel the Lamanite was mentioned. The large plates of Nephi have been discussed as a lineage record, and they have a very narrow focus. As a Lamanite, Samuel was foreign to the Nephite lineage, and therefore might not have found his way into the text. The implication of the Savior’s statement in verse 9 and the answer in 10 is suggestive that nothing of the labor of Samuel had been recorded. It was remembered, but the Savior noticed it in its absence. The notation about the fulfillment in verse 10 merely picks up on the verification in 10 by the Nephites that they had indeed been fulfilled.
What becomes most interesting, then is this inserted sermon of Samuel the Lamanite where we have the prophecies, but we do not have the record of the fulfillment specifically mentioned by the Savior. In Mormon’s editorializing, there are numerous fulfillments. His interest is in the prophecies as he is moving towards the event. To reach that event, we have Samuel the Lamanite in correct chronological order. How does it get here?
The record of the correction of the records is given in the book of 3 Nephi, that Nephi being the son of the Nephi in our current record. Not only is it a different generation, but a different book. There is a division between the books as well as persons writing in them. The command to correct the record is given to Nephi the son of Nephi.
If none of the record of Samuel had been included in the official records, it must have been written somewhere, because we have a fairly accurate record of this prophecy. It is probable that it was recorded in a different location, and then added in to the record later. Mormon either has it from the alternate source, or it was added into the record of Helaman at a later time. That later addition suggests that it would have to be entered after the events that Mormon lists in our chapter Helaman 16, so it is most probable that Mormon has moved the text to its correct chronological order in his work. It therefore appears precisely where it should because Mormon makes certain that it fits into the historical time.
This combination of sources, or recutting of sources, is no surprise in Mormon’s editiorial method. He has used multiple sources before, particularly including the holographic account of Zeniff beginning in Mosiah 9. The overall book structure forms the framework for Mormon’s narrative, but he inserts his own homilies in that structure as well as other texts that might be pertinent, regardless of whether they were or were not specifically included in the plate text. This tells us that we do Mormon a disservice when we call him an abridger of the Nephite record. Mormon was a much more active editor than a simple abridger. His intent was not to give a simplified account of the larger collection of Nephite records, but to use those records to tell a particular story, with a particular message.