[written the intent thereof]: Moroni witnesses his father’s authorship of the record, and declares that Mormon has “written the intent thereof.” This is an interesting phrase because it either refers to the whole text, or to the final statement of Mormon as we have it in our chapter 7. The part that makes this interesting is that it is the direct antecedent of Moroni’s next statement that “I would write it also…” Moroni is saying that he would write his father’s intent except that there is no room on the plates. Since his father’s most recent summary of his intent takes up less space that Moroni’s concluding statements to his father’s book, he must mean the entirety of the text, rather than that brief summary.
What Moroni is saying is that he endorses the entirety of his father’s work, and that he would produce a similar work had he the space on the plates. Understanding this meaning of Moroni’s words also helps us understand the statement: “…if I had room upon the plates, but I have not; and ore I have none…” This statement appears to indicate that Moroni has a limited space to work with on the plates, and that he is unable to add to them. While it is possible that the situation changed in the years following this statement, it is more probable that there was sufficient room on the plates as he had them to write the remainder of his father’s record, the book of Ether, and his own book. What there was not room to do was replicate a work of the size and scope of his fathers.
[my father hath been slain in battle]: See the comments following verse 3.
[and all my kinsfolk]: For a member of a kin-based society as was the Nephites (as well as the Lamanites), this was a serious matter. It would be one thing to lose a father. Mormon was over seventy five years old, so Moroni was hardly unable to care for himself. Nevertheless, to be really alone would be to be bereft of kin. The support group would be gone, the place where one might find friends and comfort is gone. With this statement, Moroni tells us that he is truly alone. There are none who might help him, and all would be suspicious of him. The addition of this short statement also points out how difficult it is to counterfeit such a document as the Book of Mormon. This is a statement completely understandable and expected in the ancient context, but much less so for a man of Joseph Smith’s era.