To have the commandments written in your hearts is a prevalent Old Testament concept. Isaiah invites “the people in whose heart is written my law” to hearken (Isaiah 51:7). Jeremiah, whose record was only partly upon the plates of brass (see 1 Nephi 5:13), quotes the Lord: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it upon their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). Paul quotes the prophecy of Jeremiah (Hebrews 8:8–10) and paraphrases it to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 3:3). A Proverb advises to “write [the commandments] upon the table of thine heart” (3:3). The priests of Noah had chosen iniquity rather than following this symbolic internalizing of the commandments.
Abinadi quotes the last nine of the Ten Commandments as given to Moses on Mount Sinai (Mosiah 13:12–24), as he had intended to do before he was interrupted by the king (v. 1). The first two commandments were quoted before (12:34–36), and he repeated the second one as a reminder of what he had said (v. 12). There are no significant differences in the text of Exodus (20:2–17) and the Book of Mormon text. The first four commandments are concerning man’s relationship to God, and the last six commandments are concerning man’s relationship to his neighbor. This break down supports Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s question:
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. [Matthew 22:36–40]
The Lord having sent Abinadi to prophesy unto them, he accuses the priests of not teaching their people these commandments (Mosiah 13: 25–26).