Text: Mormon is again quoting the original document, not summarizing it.
Culture: Benjamin addresses himself to four groups: (1) friends, (2) brethren, (3) kindred, and (4) people. It is easy to understand “friends,” “kindred,” and “people.” “Friends” was a category that both included and surpassed kin, which clearly denotes a genealogical relationship. In Nephite society, “kindred” would be a tribal designation, while “people” refers to the entire assembly, not just the Nephites.
But “brethren” is an oddity. In its strictest sense, it means male siblings. However, Benjamin cannot mean this definition, since “kindred,” which would include brothers, is another category. I argue that, just as we modern Latter-day Saints use the kin terms “brother” and “sister” to mean a gospel relationship, not a genetic one, so Benjamin was probably likewise referring to male cobelievers. The later Nahuatl language also used kin terms for social purposes. Inside the overall “people” there were believers and those who did not yet believe, even though they were part of the community. Under these circumstances, where there were both believers and nonbelievers in the same community, the term “brethren” becomes an appropriate address to that portion of the community who were already believers. Only this division between believers and nonbelievers in the same community appears to adequately explain the four terms of address.
Rhetoric: Benjamin here again “call[s] your attention.” As earlier, (Mosiah 3:1), he refocuses the people’s attention with this appellation from the distraction occasioned by their outcry, falling to earth, and descent of the Spirit. The phrase acts as a reconvening, once the congregation has savored the joyous effects of the Spirit. Obviously time has passed, although there is no indication of how much.