In reading Mormon 4–5 and Moroni 9, look for unique points mentioned in both texts that help us see that Moroni 9 was written in response to actual atrocities, which Moroni had not yet heard of, and at a time when Moroni was not close by Mormon’s side. As Alan Miner has also concluded, I am of the opinion that Moroni 9 was likely written sometime around AD 375–376 (Mormon 4:15–16; 5:3).
Mormon | Moroni | Shared Content |
|---|---|---|
4:2, 14 | 9:7–9 | taking prisoners is particularly mentioned, only in these two places in the book of Mormon |
4:10 | 9:3–5 | anger is mentioned only in these verses in the book of Mormon; anger is in opposition to Jesus’s first mandate in 3 Nephi 12:22 |
4:11–21 | 9:8, 16 | unspeakable suffering; human sacrifice unto idols; feed women the flesh of their husbands; no water; widows left to wander with no food; these things appear here and nowhere else in the whole Book of Mormon |
4:13 | 9:2 | a battle in which Nephites did not conquer; first time this happens in Mormon’s lifetime |
4:12, 15 | 9:9–10 | extraordinary Nephite excesses, revenge and wickedness |
4:18 | 9:24 | swept off as dew before the sun, on the run, many desertions |
4:23 | 9:24 | Mormon takes up all of Ammaron’s records; Mormon has records to give Moroni |
5:1 | 9:6 | Mormon repented of his oath not to lead any longer; Mormon explains why he retracted his vow and is now not quitting, “if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation” |
4:11; 5:8–11 | 9:19 | reluctance to even mention some atrocities |
The last few of these points in this list make it likely that Mormon first wrote about these events in Mormon 4 and then drafted the personal letter to Moroni in Moroni 9 based on that record.
Joseph M. Spencer, “On the Dating of Moroni 8–9,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 22 (2016): 131–148.
Alan C. Miner, “A Chronological Setting for the Epistles of Mormon to Moroni,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 3, no 2. (1994): 94–113.