Why did Abinadi go to all the trouble of disguising himself and then promptly identify himself in his opening statement? The answer is he needed the disguise to get inside the city. The people were seeking his life, but he had been commanded of the Lord (v. 1) and put his trust in him. Later he indicates he may have had an inclination of his being put to death (vv. 13:2–9).
Abinadi now gives an unconditional prophecy from the Lord. It had been two years, and Noah and his people had not met the conditions of repentance given in the previous prophecy (11:20–25). This generation—the following ones would be given an opportunity to repent—would be brought into bondage and suffer the foretold afflictions (vv. 2, 4–7). In addition, the life of King Noah, the major instigator of their wickedness, would be of no value. His death by fire is implied (v. 3), but not specifically stated as yet because of another somewhat conditional prophecy to be given later (see 13:10). There is a conditional prophecy, directed to the people, added to the unconditional future bondage: “except they repent I will utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth.” However, they would leave a record behind them as a conditional prophecy for those who later possessed the land (v. 8). The record referred to is the one Mormon is now abridging, the Record of Zeniff. Mormon’s abridgment is thus a conditional prophecy to the people of the latter days. If the people of the land of the Americas do not keep the Lord’s commandments, they will go into bondage and eventually be destroyed from the face of the land.