Words of Mormon 1:7

In 1828, Martin Harris lost 116 pages of the manuscript (History of the Church, vol. 1). These 116 pages, translated by Smith, had come to the point of King Benjamin's reign (130 B.C.). Remarkably, this is precisely the point at which Mormon, the ancient abridger of Nephi’s record, paused to insert Nephi’s small plates, which cover the same time period.

"Strangely enough we find inserted in the middle of the Book of Mormon...[1981 edition, pp. 143-145] a little book entitled the 'Book of Mormon,' or 'Words of Mormon.' It is by the supposed author or compiler of the entire work, the prophet Mormon. He has a book of his own, in its proper place, near the close of the work, recording his own life, and his connection with Nephite history. And this little affair of only two pages, having nothing whatever to do with the thread of the history that is being recorded, is to an ordinary reader of the Book of Mormon, wholly inexplicable. It becomes intelligible, however, when read in connection with a certain untoward event that occurred in connection with the translation of the book [i.e., the theft of the 116 pages]... in due course of time, there appeared a lengthy revelation purporting to come from God, the substance of which... is that Satan has put it into the hearts of the enemies of the truth to alter the words of that stolen manuscript so that should Mr. Smith reproduce them, they would lie about it, and say the two did not agree together...But now, dear reader, after learning all these facts, would you suppose Mr. Smith so far lacking in common sense and good judgment as to give himself completely away in the Book of Mormon itself, by making the old prophet Mormon a party to the fraud? This is precisely what he does by inserting after page 141 [142 of 1981 edition] two pages, entitled the 'Words of Mormon,' at the precise point in the translation where he had arrived when Martin Harris carried away those one hundred and sixteen pages of manuscript!... Singular, isn't, reader, that this old prophet Mormon, fifteen hundred years ago should happen to discover these other plates of Nephi, and thus change the entire first part of his book, at the precise spot in King Benjamin's history where Martin Harris stole the 116 pages of manuscript? And quite as singular is another fact, that from the beginning of the Book of Mormon, in a large number of places, these two sets of plates are carefully distinguished from each other, and very much said about them up to the very same period, the point in the history of King Benjamin where Mr. Harris stole those 116 pages, and from that point onward nothing more is said of a double set of plates, so that Nephi himself, his brother Jacob, and all the writers down to King Benjamin were, as it were, preparing the way for this same great change made necessary by Mr. [Mrs.?] Harris' theft! But although these double sets of plates are so often mentioned in part first of the Book of Mormon, and the specific character of each clearly stated, yet strangely enough the prophet Mormon did not know of the existence of the one set containing 'the more part of the ministry' until he happened to reach that same dangerous point in the history of his nation where Martin Harris' 116 pages ended!... had it not been for the fortunate theft... the whole religious world of to-day would have had palmed upon them, as part first of the Book of Mormon, a very inferior article, losing much of the flavor and sweetness of the gospel, and the most precious prophecies of Christ that the book now, fortunately, contains. Truly Mormon's ways are mysterious, and so are Joseph Smith's!" -M.T. Lamb, The Golden Bible; or The Book of Mormon, Is It From God? (New York: Ward and Drummand, 1887), p. 119.