Alma 18 All

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

Verse 1

• Earlier we had the rustlers standing to scatter the flocks and Ammon standing to defend them. Now we have the servants standing to testify. Why all the emphasis on standing? Is there perhaps a three-fold typology here of attacking, defending, and testifying?

Verse 2

• We are told that they "all" testified. Why would each of the servants be called to testify, rather than just one representative?
• Why was "the faithfulness of Ammon" so noteworthy?
• What was it about Ammon's "great power in contending against those who sought to slay him" that caused Lamoni such astonishment?
• Why would Lamoni wonder if Ammon was "more than a man"?
• Why would Lamoni wonder if Ammon was a punishment "upon this people, because of their murders"?

Verse 3

• Who are these "enemies of the king"? Why were they his enemies and why hadn't they been brought to justice?
• We are told again here about Ammon's "expertness" and "great strength"--why emphasize that again? Why would the servants think that no "man has such great power"?
• What exactly made the servants think that Ammon was "a friend to the king"?

Verse 4

• Why would Lamoni think that Ammon was the Great Spirit? What was their tradition about the Great Spirit?
• Lamoni says that he has previously killed his servants. What does the ability to kill servants tell us about the power that he held as king? Why would Lamoni have killed servants that had been thwarted in the past by "the enemies of the king"?

Verse 5

• What was the tradition of Lamoni about the Great Spirit? The Nehors also believed in God, but thought that "whatsoever they did was right". Is there a connection between the teachings of the Nehors and the tradition of Lamoni?
• Why was Lamoni all of a sudden concerned about having killed his servants?

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

Verse 6

• Did king Lamoni think that the servants had been in cahoots with the rustlers ("their brethren")?

Verse 7

• Who are "these" Lamanites that had this "practice of plunder among them"? What land did they come from, that they could successfully "drive away many that were scattered into their own land"?

Verse 8

• On the one hand, Lamoni wonders if Ammon is the Great Spirit, and on the other hand he asks "where is this man"--what is going on here? What exactly does Lamoni think of Ammon at this point?

Verse 9

• This is one of the few references to horses in the Book of Mormon. Since horses are practically undocumented in the archaeological record of Pre-Columbian America, how do we explain their mention here in the Book of Mormon?
• Chariots are also practically unknown from Ancient America. What are we to make of their reference here?
• What does Lamoni mean by commanding his servants to "conduct him forth" to the land of Nephi? What is there about these Lamanite horses and chariots that would merit conducting?
• How is it that Lamoni (who is a descendant of Ishmael) has a father that is king of all the Lamanites? Does this tell us anything about how descent was calculated among these peoples?

Verse 10

• What is it about Ammon's faithfulness that so impresses Lamoni?

Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Related links

• Robert Bennett, Horses in the Book of Mormon, Maxwell Institute.
• Jeff Lindsay has a section on Book of Mormon horses on his LDS FAQ page.

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

Verse 11

• Why does Lamoni think that Ammon is the Great Spirit? What does he mean by "Great Spirit"? What did that mean to the Ishmaelite king?

Verse 12

• What is a countenance? How important is it to be able to read countenances?
• Why would Ammon want to leave if the king's countenance had changed? Was he unable to read the change in his countenance?

Verse 13

• What does "Rabbanah" mean? Why would the servant call Ammon that? What was the connection between the Great Spirit and a Rabbanah in their culture?

Verse 14

• Why is the wording in this verse so similar to this verse from the New Testament: "And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" (Mark 10:51)?
• What was Ammon doing during that hour while he waited for the king to reply? Why did it take an hour for Lamoni to reply? Why couldn't Lamoni reply? Was he afraid? Puzzled?

Verse 15

• Why would Ammon be focused on asking the king what he wants when Lamoni is obviously in an altered mental state? Why doesn't Ammon apparently presume to know what Lamoni wants during this period of silence?

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

Verse 16

• When was Ammon "filled with the Spirit of God"? Was it after the hour of silence, or did he have it before? If before, when did he perceive the thoughts of the king? Only after an hour, or sometime before? If before, why did he wait an hour before revealing the king's thoughts? If after an hour, why did it take an hour?
• Even when Ammon perceives the thoughts of the king, he reveals that by asking a question. Why would asking a verifying question be important in a situation like this?
• Ammon notes that the king is marveling. What does this mean?

Verse 17

• Why does Ammon emphasize that he is a man?
• Why does Ammon continue to ask questions?
• Why is it important for Ammon to affirm his loyalty to the king? How might modern missionaries affirm their loyalty to those they serve and teach?

Verse 18

• Lamoni is impressed that Ammon knows his thoughts, a feeling powerful enough that it is the first question he asks Ammon after finding out he is not God incarnate. Ammon's ability to know Lamoni's thoughts corresponds to Alma and Amulek's experience with Zeezrom in Alma 12:3. Lamoni's and Zeezrom's experiences are similar as well in that their encounter with Nephite missionaries leads them, in very different ways, to feel that they might have "done wrong" (see Alma 12:1 and Alma 18:5--it is interesting to note the different tones in which the author describes this realization here as well). What does this combination of mind-reading and realization of guilt teach about the necessary preparation one needs to repent and become converted?
• Why are we told that Lamoni opened his mouth, "notwithstanding" his marveling? What was it about marveling that made it hard to speak?

Verse 19

• Of course Ammon would make sure to let the king know that he isn't the Great Spirit. But why didn't he say more? Why did he wait for the king to continue? Why didn't he announce his mission at this point?

Verse 20

• At this point, Lamoni is asking the questions, and so the discussion is driven by his interest, rather than Ammon's. What did Ammon do to help the king come to this point? We often hear that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. How did Ammon make this happen?
• Lamoni initially seems to just be interested in Ammon's power. Why is he so interested in this power? He seems to be ascribing it to a divine source--is he more interested in just the power, or in the source of the power? Does he have righteous desires at this point, or is he just interested in power? What is more powerful here, the fear of great sources of unknown power, or the desire to have such power?

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

Verse 21

• Why does Lamoni offer to give Ammon "whatsoever thou desirest"?
• Why is Lamoni even thinking about guarding Ammon with his armies?
• Why would Lamoni think that Ammon was more powerful than his armies, if all he had done was take on some hoodlums, killing six with his sling and one with his sword?

Verse 22

• What does it mean for Ammon to be wise? Why would we be told that he was wise "yet harmless"?
• What is Ammon doing here, asking Lamoni to believe before he even teaches him anything? How might this serve as a model for modern gospel teaching?

Verse 23

• Why would Ammon use guile to share and teach the gospel? Can GUILE be a good thing to have? In John 1:47 it seems a good thing that Nathanael had no guile.
• Wny would Lamoni agree to believe Ammon's words before even hearing them?

Verse 24

• What does it mean that Ammon "began to speak...with boldness"? How does that contrast to how he has spoken to the king previously? Why didn't he speak unto him "with boldness" before?
• Why does Ammon begin his teaching by asking a question?
• What significance does it have that Ammon would first ask the king if he believed "that there is a God"? What does it mean to believe that there is a God. Why the emphasis on "a" God?

Verse 25

• Most Mesoamerican and other ancient American societies believed in gods. Why would Lamoni tell Ammon that he doesn't know what it means to believe "that there is a God"?

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

Verse 30

• Why would Ammon teach that God dwells in the heavens? Was this not common knowledge in Lamoni's culture?
• Why would Ammon emphasize that all the holy angels dwell with God in the heavens? Where else might someone think that angels would dwell?
• A place. Why would Ammon call the heavens (plural) a place (singular)?
• Dwell. What does it mean for God to dwell in the heavens.

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

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)?

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.

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.

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.

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 18

Questions

• Click the edit link above and to the right to add questions

Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Related links

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