Textual: We have the possibility of seeing in this verse some of the editorial process the Mormon is using. We have seen that his greatest interest is in the inserted speeches that he has selected. In most cases, we have the general form of an inserted speech linked to a minimal recitation of the history that gives it context. In this case, we have an intercalated statement. Very certainly, the original (whatever we might understand that to be) had only the quotation: "will ye answer me a few questions…" What we have in this verse is that phrase written twice, with an interjection between them. That interjection was either in the original source that Mormon is copying, or is part of Mormon's editorial process.
While it is possible that it was in the source Mormon copied, it is not likely. Mormon would be using an official document here, and it is not likely that the document would have informal asides. Our experience with other texts does show that this means of interjection is part of Mormon's technique, and we may be fairly certain that it is Mormon himself who has added this phrase discussing Zeezrom's motivations.
Mormon certainly was not present when the speech was given (it was given some 400 years before Mormon's time) so we are getting his opinion. Mormon's opinion is formed before he begins to write this phrase, because it is necessarily dependent upon the rest of the text. What this tells us is that Mormon has read all of his sources, knows them fairly well, and has definite opinions about them. He feels a personal relationship to the information that he is writing, such that he admires the prophets, and despises those who contend against them. As with his editorial actions during the writing of the story of Noah, we see a Mormon who has taken a dislike to one of the characters he writes about, and he is not shy about letting that antipathy show.
Translation: Zeezrom is given these words: "Will ye answer the questions…" This tells us something about the translation process that is worth noting. It has been quite obvious that the Book of Mormon is written in King James style English. This verse makes it clear that the style is an affectation rather than something with which Joseph Smith was very familiar. He makes a grammatical mistake here that is due to his lack of true understanding of the thee/thou forms. Grammar assigns various attributes to how words and used, and two of them are the number (I/we; he/they) and another is the part of speech (I/me; we/us).
Zeezom is asking a question, and therefore needs an indirect pronoun. In modern English, we have lost the distinction between "you" as a subject and "you" as an indirect object. Without the affected style, Zeezrom is asking "will you answer the questions…."
The Book of Mormon text would be grammatically accurate if he were speaking to both Amulek and Alma, as "ye" is the plural form of the indirect object. However, the context makes it clear that only Amulek considers himself the object of the request. Thus grammatically, this should be a singular indirect object, which is "thou." The text should say (making a similar correction in the verb) "wilt thou answer the questions…"
There will be many readers of the Book of Mormon who will not notice this type of grammatical error, as modern English has lost this usage long enough ago that most of us do not use the form any better than Joseph Smith did. However, many of those who have learned English as a second language will see such forms and notice the error immediately. This is only further evidence that Joseph's understanding of language and grammar influenced the text we have. It is much easier to see Joseph as the one who creates these ultimate forms of the language than it is to explain grammatical mistakes that depend upon errors of a native speaker of English than to pose any other suggestion.