Editing Words of Mormon (section)

=== Suggested purposes ===
Words of Mormon verses 12–18 have continuity with the first part of Mosiah; Jack M. Lyon and Kent R. Minson hypothesize it was originally dictated as part of a now missing portion of the [[Book of Mosiah]].<ref>See Jack M. Lyon and Kent R. Minson, "When Pages Collide: Dissecting the Words of Mormon," BYU Studies Quarterly 51, no. 4 (2012): 120–136</ref> Brant Gardner suggests that [[Joseph Smith]] wrote verses 12–18 as a summary or bridge back into the large plates and that these verses were not part of the original dictation.<ref>See Brant A. Gardner, "When Hypotheses Collide: Responding to Lyon and Minson's 'When Pages Collide'," Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 5 (2013): 105–119.</ref> In another perspective, religious studies scholar [[Grant Hardy]] states that that Mormon's mention of King Benjamin links the [[Book of Omni]] with the [[Book of Mosiah]].{{sfn|Hardy|2023|pp=213, 216}} 

Mormon narrates that he doesn't know why he is including the small plates with the large. Latter-day Saints believe that the inclusion serves as a replacement for the [[Lost 116 pages|116 pages]] that were lost during translation of the Book of Mormon.<ref>{{harvnb|Hardy|2023|p=215}}; {{harvnb|Thomas in Largey|2003|p=793}}</ref> Author Benjamin Keogh suggests that Mormon's explanation indicates that he views the inclusion of the small plates as an appendix to the larger record. Keogh further suggests that, for the small plates, Words of Mormon may serve a similar purpose as the title page of the Book of Mormon.{{sfn|Keogh|2018|pp=302-303}}