Alma 18:31-35
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18
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Questions
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Verse 31
- Why would king Lamoni ask Ammon if the heavens were above the earth? Isn't that a pretty silly question? Is Lamoni asking about "the heavens" which are obviously above the earth, or is he asking about "where God dwells and all his holy angels' (v.30)?
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Lexical notes
- It (singular). Note that while Ammon begins by talking about the heavens (plural), in vs. 30 he indicates that the heavens (plural) is a place (singluar) where God dwells with all his holy angels. Then in vs. 31, Lamoni asks Ammon if it, presumably this singular dwelling place of God, is above the earth.
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Exegesis
- Where God dwells. Apparently, in these verses Ammon is clarifying for Lamoni where God dwells. In doing so, he may be correcting the common Mesoamerican belief that the gods dwelt under the ground.
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Related links
- John Clark may have been the first to point out that Ammon may be correcting a traditional Mesoamerican view of gods as dwelling in a dark underworld. See his closing remarks during his 2005 FAIR conference address. All known Mesoamerican cultures subscribed to these views of a dark underworld, including the Aztecs (with nine lower levels, including Mictlan) and Mayans (Xibalba). National Geographic has an account of a modern visit to the Mayan Underworld.
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