Historical: Benjamin has concluded a specific section of his discourse, and now stops to see the effect upon the assembled population. From his vantage point Benjamin could visually survey a large number of people, and the visual indication of falling to the earth would be clearly visible, and readily interpreted.
It is an unanswerable question from history as to how much of the prostration and the “one voice” proclamation of the next verse were spontaneous or orchestrated. Certainly the effect of the spirit could be similarly and spontaneously felt. However, it is also possible that some of this process was scripted as public pageant, a process known from the Old World:
“On the theme of eternity, the closing sound of every royal acclamatio, King Benjamin ended his address, which so overpowered the people that they ”had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them“ (Mosiah 4:1). This was the kind of proskynesis at which Benjamin aimed! The proskynesis was the falling to the earth (literally, ”kissing the ground") in the presence of the king by which all the human race on the day of the coronation demonstrated its submission to divine authority; it was an unfailing part of the Old World New Year’s rites as of any royal audience (Nibley, Hugh. An Approach to the Book of Mormon. Deseret News Press, 1957, p. 264).
While the connection between this particular event in the New World and an Old World ritual over 500 years distant is legitimately questionable, nevertheless, the anthropological logic of the situation suggests that the lowering of the head and body to the ground might have been a common mode of showing respect. Thus this action of humility would be a cultural mode of displaying humility before a king in multiple cultures and contexts, whether it was a remembrance of the Old World or not.
If the event was purely spontaneous, the falling to the ground would have originated with a few, and the rest of the population would have recognized the appropriateness of the gesture, and would have followed the example of those who began the posture. If the event was orchestrated, then the populace would have understood that at a particular point in the ceremony this action was required.
The particulars of Benjamin’s speech would indicate that the action was probably spontaneous as a response to the text. Although Nibley suggests that the theme of eternity was a marker of the end of a coronation declaration, the coronation event is buried in the text and intent of Benjamin’s address. Benjamin has not yet climaxed his purpose, for the giving of the new name is yet to come. Therefore, it would appear that in the context of Benjamin’s discourse, this action flowed from the recognition of the application of Benjamin’s words to the assemblage. The very pointed way in which Benjamin has addressed their recent difficulties as well as the potential for continued contention suggests that this was indeed a very personal speech, and would be understood on a very personal level.
Textual: This verse begins a new chapter in the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, and we may presume that it also began a new section on the plates themselves. We have, then a break in the story of Benjamin that Mormon sees as the conclusion of one type of entry, and the beginning of something else. As is frequent with Mormon, the conclusion of the previous section coincides with the termination of cited material.
Even though the text of Benjamin’s discourse to this point has been concluded, the event itself was not concluded. We continue with the event, and will continue with more direct citation of Benjamin, but first Mormon provides the linking material. Verses 1-3 and the very beginning of verse 4 are Mormon’s synopsis of the events. While he is certainly following the plate text, the best hypothesis is that these are his own distillation of those events rather than a citation of the way they appeared on the plates. The best reason for this conclusion is that the text is clearly past tense and descriptive. The text from the actual event may have contained more “current” language, and perhaps more detail.