Before we discuss Mormon’s personal record, we should note that this verse marks an important transition from Mormon’s role as abridger to personal historian. Mormon’s greatest accomplishment was that he had abridged the Large Plates of Nephi from the days of Lehi to his own (WofM 1:3,9). The portion of this record that we have today (Mosiah to 4 Nephi) spans a time period of over 450 years. For his prophetic condensing, editorializing, and admonishing, we will always be grateful. Apparently, this great work was accomplished prior to writing his own history as evidenced by the smooth transition from 4 Nephi to Mormon.
Furthermore, we learn from the Words of Mormon that Mormon’s work on the abridgement and his personal history took place just before the final battle of 385 AD (See Mormon 6:6 and WofM 1:1). This places his age over 70 and demonstrates his perspective as he abridges the record. Mormon is writing the words we know as the Book of Mormon after collecting all the wisdom of age and experience. He commonly includes stories of the Gadiantons because he has already seen the role the Gadiantons played in the final destruction of his people (Mormon 1:18). He is fatalistic about the Nephites, not just because he knows of prophecies concerning their destruction, but because he has already witnessed almost all of their destruction. We found the same pattern in the life of Nephi, who began writing the record we know as 1 and 2 Nephi long after many events had already transpired—as late as 569 BC (2 Nephi 5:28-30).
Jeffrey R. Holland
“In one of the loneliest scenes in scriptural history, a silent, war-weary soldier looked out across time and the unspeakable tragedy his family and followers faced. Mormon, the man destined before the world was formed to abridge and summarize the Nephite story—and in so doing to have his name forever immortalized with this additional testament of Jesus Christ—surveyed the casualties of a nation that had turned from the Lord. As sobering as the account is, it does not give a full account of all the sin and sadness Mormon had seen. Indeed, such an account probably would have been impossible to record.” (Christ and the New Covenant, p. 317)