Alma 32:36-40
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 32
| Previous (Alma 32:31-35) | Next (Alma 32:41-43) |
Contents |
Questions
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add questions
Lexical notes
Verse 36
- Exercise. Webster's 1828 Dictionary define's exercise in its first definition as "to use; to exert; as, to exercise authority or power." The second definition is "to use for improvement in skill; as, to exercise arms." It seems that both definitions may be applicable here: in the comparison, faith is exerted by planting the seed, and faith is used for improvement as attested by the increase in faith described in verse 29.
Exegesis
Verse 36
The description of faith here that should not be laid aside creates a tension with verse 34 where faith is described as dormant, the same kind of tension that exists for "perfect knowledge" between verses 34-35 and verse 36. If the kind of faith being described in verse 34 is qualified as a faith "in that thing"—the same way that "perfect knowledge" is qualified—then perhaps Alma is talking about two different kinds of faith. But if this is the case, it seems these two different kinds of faith are not unrelated to each other: the statement in verse 29 that describes an increase in faith seems to link these two different kinds of faith. If verse 29 indeed establishes a link between the dormant faith of verse 34 and the faith that should not be laid aside described here in verse 36, then the increasing faith seems to parallel the growing seed. However, faith does not appear to be equivalent to the seed in Alma's comparison (at least not yet...). Faith is used here to describe what is exercised in order to plant the seed. Although faith appears to increase as the seed grows, this relationship between faith and the seed, though intimate, perhaps even dialectical, but it does not seem to be an equivalence. Similarly, in verse 41, the word/tree is described as being nourished by faith. There too the word/tree is the grammatical direct object of faith, a position which seems to imply a required action on the part of the listener in order to bring about the growth of the word/tree. At the same time, "required action" may be putting this too strongly since faith here is simply not laid aside; indeed, it seems the "particle of faith" described in verse 27 is all that is needed and that the word/seed is what causes the listener's faith to increase (cf. "faith as a grain of mustard seed" in Matt 17:20 and Luke 17:6).
Verse 38
"If ye neglect the tree." If faith is what nourishes the tree (cf. vv. 36, 40) then, based on Alma's earlier discussion of sign-seeking (vv. 17ff), then neglecting the tree might be taken here as not exercising faith.
"Heat of the sun." It seems the heat of the sun is an essential ingredient for growth of a tree, and yet too much heat relative to the roots of the tree will lead to the death of the tree. Note also that the sun is used as a symbol in 1 Ne 1:9 for describing the luster of Christ (presumably). This seems consistent with the idea of judgment as a day of heat and burning of the wicked.
"Withers away." (Cf. 1 Ne 17:48, 52-54; Jacob 5:7, 40, 43, 45.) How would a seed be planted, begin to grow, but then not take sufficient root so that it withers away in the sun? It may be that this is symbolically describing what Alma describes earlier in this chapter as being "compelled to be humble" and "brought to know the word" before believing. On this view, it might be that those who are compelled to be humble rather than humbling themselves because of the word, will not continue unto everlasting life (v. 41) because they will not have sufficient faith to nourish the tree so as to survive the heat of the sun. The danger, then, that Alma described earlier with being compelled to be humble, or—in terms of faith and knowledge—being brought to knowledge before believing, is that there will be faith enough to continue nourishing the word so that it can grow into a fruit-bearing tree. Being compelled to be humble or being brought to know the word rather than coming to knowledge by first exercising faith might not last. The temporariness of this condition is then set in contrast to the everlasting (non-temporary!) condition of those that exercise faith. (Compare also the difference between the temporal vs. the spiritual described elsewhere by Alma, e.g. in Alma 7:23; Alma 12:16; Alma 36:4; Alma 37:43; Alma 42:7, 9.)
Related links
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add related links
| Previous (Alma 32:31-35) | Next (Alma 32:41-43) |
