Alma 5 All

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.

Note: this page allows you to see all the commentary pages for Alma chapter 5 together. Click on the heading to go to a specific page.

Alma 5:1-5

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 5

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Questions

In this sermon Alma asks forty-five questions. Why do you think he uses questions to structure what he says?

vv. 1-7: Alma begins as he seems to begin each of his sermons, with a reference to the type of bondage and deliverance. (Verse 6 captures both parts of the type: have you remembered the captivity of your fathers and their deliverance?) Sometimes the specific instance of that type is Moses and Israel in Egypt. In this case it is Noah and the people of Nephi. Why do you think the type, bondage and deliverance, has such power for Alma the Younger? Is it or ought it to be an important type for us?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 6

Is there a difference between "my brethren" and "you that belong to this church"?
What does it mean to "sufficiently" retain in remembrance? Is there a minimum standard or level at which the things Alma speaks about must be remembered?
Why is it important for the Nephites to remember "the captivity of your fathers"? Which captivity is this? Egypt? Land of Helam? Land of Nephi?
What is the value of remembrance here? What is specifically to be remembered? How is this remembrance to take place? Is it just a mental remembrance, or something else?
What does it mean to remember?
What is it about the Lord's "mercy and long-suffering" that the Nephites are to remember? Do we need to remember the same thing?
What does it mean to have your soul delivered from hell? Is this something that happens in this life? How does it require faith to see this deliverance?
In our Latter-day discussions, we don't talk much about hell. What is the hell that Alma is referring to here?

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Verse 7

What does changing hearts or awakening from a deep sleep have to do with having a soul delivered from hell (vs. 6)?
How is it that the Lord can change a heart? How does this happen? What does a person have to do in order for the Lord to change his or her heart?
What is the deep sleep that Alma is talking about here? How is one awoken from this deep sleep?
What does it mean to awake unto God?
What does it mean to be "in the midst of darkness"?
What is "the light of the everlasting word"? How does it illuminate souls?
What are the bands of death? Are they the same as the "chains of hell"? How does one become "encircled about" by these bands?
What is "everlasting destruction"?

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Verse 8

Why weren't the people destroyed?
Why is Alma asking so many questions here?
Why does Alma say "and now I ask of you"?
Why does Alma answer his own questions? How effective is this rhetorically?

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Verse 9

How are "ands of death broken"? Is this the same thing as loosening the chains of hell? What does it mean to have these things broken or loosed?
What does breaking bands and loosening chains have to do with souls expanding?
What does it mean for a soul to expand?
What does it mean to "sing redeeming love"?
What does expanding souls and singing redeeming love have to do with being saved? What does Alma mean here by being saved?

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Verse 10

What is mean by "conditions" of salvation?
What is the difference between being saved and having grounds for hope for salvation?
What does it mean to "hope for salvation"? Is this hope enough to loosen the bands of death or chains of hell? What is the connection between having a hope for salvation and having the bands of death or chains of hell loosened?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 10

What grounds had they to hope for salvation? This important question is the basis of Alma's sermon. How could these men know they were saved? Was their rejoicing in vain? Is there a test that we can use to determine if we are saved? The answer is found in the following three verses.

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Questions

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Verse 11

Alma announces his theme, the conditions of salvation. Compare this sermon to King Benjamin’s sermon in Mosiah 4. How are they different? How the same?
To what cause of salvation does Alma first refer? Why is that particular cause so important? What does it mean to him? to us?
What does it mean for the words to be delivered "by the mouth of Abinadi"? Were these words read? Recited? What does it mean for them to be delivered?
Why does Alma call Abinadi a "holy prophet" rather than just a prophet? Why the emphasis on holy?
What is meant here by speaking the words of God?
What does it mean that Alma believed the words of God?

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Verse 12

Verse 11 tells us that Alma the Elder heard and believed the words of Abinadi. What does this verse describe as the result? Why does Alma II say that the mighty change was something that happened to his father, Alma I, rather than something that he did?
What is the relationship between belief (vs 11) and faith? Is it the same? If faith is a gift from God, what does it mean for Alma to "have" faith? Is it appropriate to talk of Alma "having" faith, or is there some other way we should describe this?
How does faith lead to "a mighty change" of heart?
What do we have to do to get this mighty change as well?

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Verse 13

Why is it enough to say that the people “humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God” and that they “were faithful until the end” to explain their salvation? Why doesn’t Alma include such things as baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost or keeping the commandments in his description of salvation?
What does it mean for the change of heart to be mighty? For it to be wrought?
What does it mean that they "humbled themselves"? Is this something that we have to do for our selves, or does God somehow make it possible?
What does it mean that they "put their trust" in God?
What is meant by referring to God as "true and living"?
What does it mean that "they were faithful until the end"? What constitutes being faithful? What does "until the end" mean? Is that just to the end of their lives, or does it mean something else?

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Verse 14

What does “receive his image in your countenances” mean? Does it have anything to do with Gen 1:27: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them"? If we have already been created in the image of God, how can Alma ask whether those in Zarahemla have received that image? How is Alma’s teaching related to the teaching of 1 Jn 3:2: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Just how close the connection is between Hebrew and the language of the Nephites is a matter of conjecture. Normally we would expect a good deal of language change in the 500 years since Lehi’s family arrived in the New World. However, if Hebrew is the priestly language of the plates rather than the everyday language of the Nephites, it may not have changed very much. If so, we can draw some tentative conclusions about Book of Mormon language from what we know about Hebrew. Perhaps the first thing to notice is that in Hebrew the word for “face” (pannim) is plural rather than singular. What implications might that have for how Hebrews and perhaps Nephites, too, understood the face? Another important thing about the Hebrew word for face is that it often stands for the person as a whole. (See, for example, Deut 28:50, Job 29:24, Prov 7:13, and Jer 5:3.) Does that suggest anything about what Alma is saying here?
Are the questions that Alma asks in these verses different questions or are they different ways of asking the same question?
What does it mean to be "spiritually born of God"? Is this the same as being "born again"?
How do we "receive" God's image in our countenance?
What is the connection between receiving God's image in our countenance and experiencing a mighty change in our heart?
Why does Alma refer to it as a change "in" our heart rather than a change "of" our heart?

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Verse 15

What does it mean to "exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you"? In our modern terms, this faith in Christ or the Father?
What is "the redemption of him who created you"? Is this just another way of saying "The Atonement"? What is meant by this phrase?
What does it mean to "look forward with an eye of faith"? What is the "eye of faith"?
What does looking forward to the resurrection and judgment have to do with being saved?
What does it mean for "corruption" to be "raised in incorruption"?
What does it mean to "stand before God"?
How will we "be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body"?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verses 11-13

A mighty change. These verses answer the question posed in verse 10: how can we trust that we have been saved? Alma the younger uses his father's experience as proof that salvation is real and measurable.

First, Alma believed -- He heard the true words of a prophet of God, and was stirred to action. He exercised faith in the message.
Second, Alma's heart changed -- As he tried the word (see Alma 32:28), he experienced God first-hand and became a different man because of it.
Finally, Alma's message changed others -- As Alma preached what he had learned, the same mighty change took place in everyone that put faith in it.

This equation has been reduced to its basic components. The fruits of the spirit (humility, faith) are a potent indicator that the message is good (see verse 40), and those that put their trust in it have a real reason to hope for salvation.

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Questions

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Verse 16

What would it take for us to imagine that we hear God calling us blessed and calling us to him? What would it mean for God to call us "blessed"?
How is imagination tied to salvation? How is imagination tied to exercising faith?
What does it mean to "come unto" God in this way? How might that be different from how we normally talk about coming unto God?
If every person sins, what does it take for our works to be the works of righteousness? What are "the" works of righteousness? Does that mean all of our works are righteous, or that there is an expected subset of works that are righteous? What does righteous mean in this context?
What is meant by "upon the face of the earth"? Is that just another way of saying "in mortality" or is there something else implied here?

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Verse 17

How does Alma contrast these two acts of imagination by use of the term "or"?
What does it mean to "imagine to yourselves"? Is this just another way of saying "imagine", or is there something else going on here?
How could anyone imagine lying to the Lord? Why does Alma bring this up?
If Alma imagines someone lying unto the Lord when they state that their works have been righteous works, does that imply that he imagines everyone will have to make their own statement about their own works, something that isn't mentioned in the earlier example of judgment?
What does this imaginative account of judgment and salvation imply about these two acts? How literally should we take this account?
Is salvation something that happens after resurrection and judgment, or is this just an imaginative metaphor for some other process?

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Verse 18

What does it mean to be "brought before the tribunal of God"? Who is it that brings us? How are we brought?
What does it mean to be have your soul "filled with guilt and remorse"? Isn't this a good thing that leads to repentance?
What is it about the remembrance of guilt and wickedness that is damning in this situation?
How are we supposed to forget our guilt and memories of our wickedness?
What is meant by a "perfect" remembrance"? How is that different from a normal memory?
What does it mean to "set at defiance the commandments of God"? Is this just another way of saying "being disobedient" or is there something else going on here? What does it mean to "set at defiance"?
Which "commandments of God" are referred to here? Are these specific commandments, or just everything that God has said to do?

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Verse 19

Why do you think Alma says that we will look up at that day? Could he possibly be suggesting that we will be on our knees, kneeling before the Lord and looking up at Him?
What are "a pure heart and clean hands"? Are these the same things, or two different things?
How can a heart be pure?
What does it mean for hands to be clean?
What does it mean for the "image of God" to be "engraven upon your countenances"? How is it "engraven"? What is our countenance?

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Verse 20

What does Alma mean by "being saved"?
How does someone "yield themselves" to the devil? What does this imply about our use of agency?
What does it mean "to become subjects to the devil?"
Does this give us any insight into the ground of our being? Is there neutral ground, a way to avoid yielding ourselves to either God or the devil? Or are we forced to chose? Are there any neutral choices?

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Lexical notes

Set at defiance. This phrase only occurs three times in the scriptures: Alma 5:18, Alma 61:7, and 3 Ne 6:30. Its use in 3 Ne 6:30 is interesting, as it is talking about those who desire to overthrow the laws and resultant liberties of the people in order to be subject to kings--perhaps a shadow of what Alma is talking about here, with people disregarding the commandments and willing to be subject to the devil. Websters 1828 definition of defiance specifically ties it to notions of armed conflict: 1. A daring; a challenge to fight; invitation to combat; a call to an adversary to encounter, if he dare. Goliath bid defiance to the army of Israel. 2. A challenge to meet in any contest; a call upon one to make good any assertion or charge; an invitation to maintain any cause or point. 3. Contempt of opposition or danger; a daring or resistance that implies the contempt of an adversary, or of any opposing power. Men often transgress the law and act in defiance of authority.

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 21: Compare what Alma says here about salvation with what he said about it in verses 10-13. Here he says that to be saved we must have our garments washed white in the blood of the Redeemer. There he says that we must have our hearts changed, humble ourselves, trust God, and remain faithful. How are those two descriptions of salvation related?
Cannot be saved. How does this statement compare with the idea that all mankind can be saved by grace (see Eph 2:5)?
v. 23: Alma seems to use murder as the type of all sin. Why is it appropriate to do so?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 21

Cannot be saved. No matter how cruel it may seem, God cannot save everyone (see Alma 12:18). Certain qualifications are necessary to receive eternal life, such as being 'cleansed from all stain' through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

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Verse 25

Make our Creator a liar. In other words, this thing cannot happen.

Alma is one of the few prophets to suggest that God must follow certain patterns or cease to be God (see Alma 12:23, 42:13). Here, he relies on the reader's understanding of God's attributes (truthful, all-knowing) to realize how unlikely this event is.

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Questions

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Verse 26

Why does Alma call these people his "brethren"? Are these people of his Nephite lineage, or members of the Church, or both?
Why is experiencing the change of heart described as singing “the song of redeeming love"? What does the question of this verse suggest is Alma’s concern for the people of Zarahemla? How is it an appropriate question for us?
How is it possible to experience a change of heart, but to lose that feeling?

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Verse 27

Does it make sense to understand these questions as tests we can use to answer the question, “Am I clean?”
Is Alma using humility and having one’s garments washed clean as parallel concepts in this verse? If not, why does he particularly mention humility?

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Verse 28

What does it mean to be stripped of pride? Why are we unprepared to meet God if we are not stripped of pride?

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Verse 29

What might Alma mean here by “envy"? How does envy prevent us from being in the presence of God?

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Verse 30

What mockery or persecution within the Church might Alma have in mind? (Compare Alma 1:22-24—how did the contention with those outside the Church lead to excommunications?)

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

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Verse 32

Who are the workers of iniquity? Is iniquity different from sin? Why does the verse end with “for the Lord hath spoken it"?

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Verse 33

Is it significant that the Lord offers an invitation rather than a demand? Why do we have to repent in order for him to receive us?
What are the "arms of mercy"? What does it mean for them to be extended towards us?

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Verse 34

From where do the images that Alma uses in these verses come? What do those scriptures have to do with Alma’s message?
We are often told that the tree of life is Jesus Christ. Is this verse talking about how we should partake of the "fruit" of Christ, or in otherwords, the scriptures? What is it talking about here?

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Exegesis

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Verse 38

What does it mean that Christ calls us in his own name? It doesn't seem the same as saying that Christ calls us by his own name. Is Christ calling on us in Christ's own name related to how we call on God in Christ's name?

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Verses 40-41

What does it mean to be a child of the devil? Does that tell us anything about what it means to be a child of God and the Good Shepherd?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 42: The scriptures sometimes speak, as Alma does here, of the wages of sin. (See, for example, Rom 6:23.) Why don’t they speak of the wages of righteousness?

vv. 43-44: Does v. 44 tell us what it means to speak plainly—to testify—or does Alma speak plainly because he has been called to testify?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Verse 44

Called to speak. Those who hold the calling of high priest are expressly required to teach and warn the people (see Alma 13:2,6).

In this chapter Alma warns the people of Zarahemla of the punishment that is to come for the sinner and tells the people that they can be saved through repentance through Jesus Christ. In verse 44 Alma tells the people that he is commanded to testify of the things which are to come. By "things which are to come" it seems that Alma is principally referring to the punishment of the sinner (e.g. verses 36 and 52) and the coming of Jesus Christ to save us from our sins (see verse 48).

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Questions

v. 46: To what does the phrase “these things” here and v. 45 refer? Is their antecedent in v. 44? How does Alma’s testimony that he has fasted and prayed many days to know these things square with the story of his conversion (see Mosiah 27:8-32 and Alma 36:6-23), in which he seems to have gained a testimony quickly and without fasting and prayer?

v. 47: What particular words of the fathers does Alma have in mind? Does the context answer that question?

v. 48: Was Alma influenced by 2 Ne 25:12, John 1:14, or both when he wrote this verse?

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Lexical notes

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Exegesis

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Questions

Verses 53-55: What are the sins of the people of Zarahemla? Are our sins today the same, or do we have different problems?
Verse 54: What is meant by works meet for repentance? Alms uses this phrase a couple more times over the next few chapters when preaching to the wicked parts of the Nephites. One time he uses the phrase 'fruits meet for repentance'. Again, what is meant by this?

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Exegesis

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Questions

v. 57: How do we come out from the wicked? How do we avoid touching their unclean things? Does coming out from among them and not touching their unclean things mean that we dissociate ourselves from them? If so, how can we do missionary work among them? If not, how do we separate ourselves?

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Alma 5 All

From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.

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Verse 6

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Verse 10

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Verse 11

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Verse 16

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Verse 26

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Verse 32

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Verse 38

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Verse 39

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Verse 44

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Verse 45-46

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