Site:SS lessons/BOM lesson 23

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

This page allows you to see all the commentary pages together for this Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine lesson. Click on the heading to go to a specific page. Click the edit links below to edit text on any pages.

Alma 8:1-5

The Book of Mormon > Alma > Chapter 8

Previous (Alma 7:21-27)

Next (Alma 8:6-10)

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 1

What does “order of the church” mean? Alma is said to have established it also in Zarahemla. There he did so by ordaining priests and elders (surprising that they didn’t already have them), baptizing repentant converts, and excommunicating unrepentant members (Alma 6:1-4). What kind of order does that suggest?
What is the connection between the "order of the church" and the "order of the priesthood"?
Why are we told that Alma taught "many things that cannot be written"? Why couldn't they be written? Is it just a matter of editing, i.e. not enough room on the plates? Or is it something else--perhaps temple covenants or other things that are not to be written down?

[edit]

Verse 2

Why are we told that the judges "reign...over the people"? What is the difference between a judge and any other type of ruler?
What do we know about how Nephite judges "reigned"?

[edit]

Verse 3

Why are we told that Alma started his journey "in the commencement of the tenth year"? Why tell us at all? Is this just a way of marking time to carry the narrative, or is there something else going on?
What do we know about the land of Melek, or the Melek for whom it was named? Is there any connection between Melek/Mulek?
Why did Alma first go to Gideon and only after that go to Melek? What might have made him rank the order his journey from Gideon to Melek to Ammonihah?

[edit]

Verse 4

What does it mean to teach "according to the holy order of God"? How might that differ from any other type of teaching or preaching? We learn more about this order in Alma 13, but does that tell us any more about how teaching is accomplished "according to" this order?
How big was this land of Melek, that it warrants mentioning his teaching "throughout all the land"?

[edit]

Verse 5

Why does it say that the people came to Alma, rather than that he traveled "throughout all the land"? What might this imply about how Alma did his teaching?
What type of people were these who lived apparently outside of the city, throughout all the borders of the land?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

[edit]

Verse 5

Throughout all the borders of the land. In Mesoamerican society, the elite rulers and priests lived in the city, and poorer farmers usually lived out in the smaller villages or hamlets. The people who came in to be baptized from "throughout all the borders of the land" may have been humble subsistence farmers, rather than the local elites--indicating that the gospel was taught to everyone, and not just the ruling classes.

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 7

Why does Mormon tell us that cities and villages are named after those "who first possessed them"?
Who is the Ammonihah who first possessed this city? Is there a relationship between the name Ammonihah and Ammon, the presumably high-ranking Mulekite of a previous generation (see Mosiah 7:3)? If so, might Ammonihah be a high-ranking Mulekite (perhaps even a descendant of Ammon), who set out from the Land of Zarahemla to start his own predominantly Mulekite settlement?

[edit]

Verse 9

What do we know about these people of the city of Ammonihah? Alma later calls them to remember their Nephite ancestors, but are they all descendants of Nephi? They recognize, though are plotting to overthrough, the rulership of the chief judge at Zarahemla--but who exactly are these people several days away from the center of the government at Zarahemla? Why have they set up a city at such a distance from the heart of government?

[edit]

Verse 10

Alma communes with angels from time to time. Why, then, does he also have to “wrestle with God in prayer” (emphasis added)?
We are clearly led to believe that Alma's desire to baptize the people of Ammonihah is a righteous desire. How does this compare to the desires of modern missionaries to baptize people? Are there any clues here to help us identify what makes Alma's desire pure, as opposed to self-serving?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 11

How often does Alma talk about hardened or softened hearts? What does it mean for a heart to be hardened?
What do the people of Ammonihah mean by claiming that the church was established "according to your tradition" rather than "our" tradition? Who are these people that claim not to be of the same religious tradition?
Later we learn that these people are following after the order of Nehor. How do their statements here reflect the teachings of Nehor?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

It appears that the people of Ammonihah recognize power only in the political--they reject Alma's authority over them on the premise that he is no longer the chief judge. This obsession with the political is reemphasized in the following chapters (see Alma 10:13, Alma 10:24). It's also possible to understand some of Amulek's later discourse as addressing this situation (Alma 10:19-20).

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 16

In Melek, Alma taught all the people throughout the land, especially those outside the city in the borders of the wilderness. Here he is commanded to preach "unto the people of the city". Is there a difference here? Is he being commanded specifically to preach just to those within the city, and not in the borders round about? If so, why might that be?

[edit]

Verse 17

To what phrase do the parenthesis apply and why use the parenthesis at all?
To whom does "thy people" refer? Is it the Nephites as a whole, or the members of the church in particular?
What does it mean that the people were studying to destroy the liberty of the people? What does that studying entail?
In previous teaching, Alma has asked the people if they are going to "set at defiance" or come out in armed opposition to the commandments of God. Is that what the people of Ammonihah are now preparing to do?

[edit]

Alma 18

Of what significance is it that Alma returned "speedily" to the city after receiving instructions from the angel? Can we draw a lesson from this example?

[edit]

Alma 19

Why would Alma announce himself as "an humble servant of God"? What does this mean, and why use such language?

[edit]

Verse 20

Nephite. Why does Amulek bother to state that he is a Nephite? Isn't Ammonihah a Nephite city?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Amulek is a Nephite Apparently, not everyone in Ammonihah is a Nephite, or considers themselves to be a Nephite, and so it is important for Amulek to so announce himself to Alma. This may be further evidence that Ammonihah is predominantly a Mulekite city, named after a prominent Mulekite (see commentary on Alma 8:7). If so, this would shed even more light on why the people were studying to "destroy the liberty of the people" (v.17). If Ammonihah was a predominantly Mulekite city, perhaps they were seeking to break away from the new Nephite-ruled complex chiefdom based out of Zarahemla.

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 25

What does Alma's intent to "prophesy unto this people, yeah, and to testify against them concerning their iniquities" have to do with preaching the word of God "according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy" (v.24)?
In what ways might Alma's preaching form a model for modern day preaching? Is it important to prophesy to modern audiences? What might a preacher prophesy of? What about testifying against iniquities? How appropriate is it for us to call people out (in general or individually) on their sins?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 26

Here Alma testifies that he had fasted many days before he had seen the angel. Did fasting make it more likely that Alma would be able to receive guidance from the angel? How appropriate is it to fast "many days"?

[edit]

Verse 28

What does it mean that the people "did wax more gross in their iniquities"? What would that have looked like? How would Alma know that this was happening? How are these iniquities being measured?

[edit]

Verse 29

How does this preaching about the "fierce anger" of the Lord differ from Alma's teaching in the lands of Zarahemla, Gideon, and Melek?

[edit]

Verse 32

What does it mean that Alma and Amulek preached and prophesied "according to the spirit and power" given them by the Lord? How was that spirit and power manifest?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 1

How did Alma view Amulek's role as his companion? Why does he speak of "tak[ing] Amulek?" Is this the language of God, or Alma's interpretation of it?

[edit]

Verse 2

What does although mean here?
What are the people talking about here? Why are they talking about the earth passing away? Are they responding to something that Alma has said, or where does this come from?

[edit]

Verse 3

What does Alma mean when he says that the earth should pass away? Why would he even record this little exchange with the people of Ammonihah?

[edit]

Verse 4

Why wouldn't the people of Ammonihah believe Alma?
Why do the people say they won't believe Alma if he "shouldst prophesy that this great city should be destroyed in one day"? Was this a response to something Alma had said?

[edit]

Verse 5

What does Alma mean by "hard-hearted" and "stiffnecked"? What scriptural precedences provide insight into these terms?

[edit]

Lexical notes

The although in verse 2 has confused some readers. To make sense of although here read it as even though (see the Oxford English Dictionary). Today we might say even if in place of even though. Under this interpretation the people are saying something like "do you expect us to believe something only one person tells us no matter how crazy it is?" See Mark 14:29 for another reference in the scriptures to where although is used to mean "even though" or "even if."

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

Prophets in the Book of Mormon often begin their calls to repentance by reminding the people of what the Lord has done for their ancestors. (For example, Alma the Younger did this in his sermon in Alma 5.) Why? Were a modern prophet delivering a sermon like this, to what might he refer to remind us of what the Lord has done?

[edit]

Verse 6

What are the people saying here? What do they mean by "Who is God"? Are they belittling Alma's teachings about God? Do they seem to be mocking a god that would only send one messenger?

[edit]

Verse 7

How did Alma avoid being grabbed by the people?
What does it mean for Alma to have "stood with boldness"

[edit]

Verse 8

What does Alma mean by calling the people a "wicked and perverse generation"?
How is Alma using the word "generation"?
What about this generation was so wicked and perverse?
Did the people forget the tradition of their fathers, or did the actively reject it?
What is the connection between the traditions of the fathers and the commandments? How might that connection be broken? In modern terms, how is it that this generation didn't get their own testimonies of the gospel? How were the traditions passed down? Were there weaknesses in how it was transmitted from one generation to the next?

[edit]

Verse 9

What does it mean to be brought "by the hand of God"? Is this just metaphorical, or is there something else going on here?
Why does Alma switch from "our father" in the first question, to "they...all" in the second question?

[edit]

Verse 10

What does Alma mean when he says the people have "forgotten so soon"? It has been decades since the earlier generations, their "fathers", were brought out of bondage?
What incidents is Alma referring to here, where the fathers were "delivered" and "preserved...from being destroyed by...their own brethren"?
Who are the "our fathers" referred to here? Does this include Mulekite ancestors, or just literal descendants of Nephi?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 11

Why does Alma refer to God's power as "matchless"?
What is the link between being "cut off from the face of the earth" and being "consigned to a state of endless misery and woe"?
What is the state of endless misery and woe that Alma refers to? Can we translate that into our modern understanding of the spirit world, or does it refer to something else?
What is woe? Does it mean the same as misery, or does it imply something more?
Are misery and woe a common couplet, or is there something beyond just a literary style here in their use?

[edit]

Verse 12

What is the difference between being told to repent to "inherit the kingdom of God" or to avoid being utterly destroyed? Is Alma or the Lord trying to provide two different motivations to try and get the people to repent, or is there something else going on here?
What is the place for such hellfire and damnation preaching in the modern church?
What is the "fierce anger" of God mentioned here? How does this fierce anger jibe with our view of God as a patient and loving Heavenly Father?
What does it mean for God to visit "in his anger" and "not turn away"? Is there a point at which it is too late to repent and God cannot turn back consequences for our actions?

[edit]

Verse 13

What is the nature of the promise to Lehi? Is this a covenant? How does this promise or covenant relate to land covenants in the Old Testament?
What does it mean to prosper?
Why is the reward for obedience a tangible prosperity, while the penalty for not keeping the commandments to be "cut off from the presence of the Lord"? Does this imply something about prosperity that we don't normally consider (cf. Mosiah 2:22)? Might there be a connection between "inheriting the kingdom of God (vs. 13) and prospering in the land here? If so, does that imply that the kingdom of God is here, and consists of the opposite of being "cut off from the presence of the Lord"?

[edit]

Verse 14

What does it mean that the Lamanites "have been cut off from the presence of the Lord"? What does that mean? Does this have anything to do with the literal presence of the Lord in the temple?
What does Alma mean by the "presence of the Lord"?

[edit]

Verse 15

Why is the wording here so similar to this verse in the New Testament: "But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee" (Matt 11:24)?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Woe. According to Webster's 1828 dictionary, wo [sp] is a noun that means 1. grief; sorrow; misery; a heavy calamity, 2. a curse, and 3. is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of sorrow.

[edit]

Exegesis

Prosperity and the Kingdom of God. In these verses, Alma seems to link the concepts of prosperity, inheriting the kingdom of God, and being in the presence of God. It is possible to read these verses as providing the following oppositions:

A) Inherit the Kingdom, B) In the presence of God, C) Prosper in the land

vs.

D) Destroyed from off the face of the earth, E) Cut off from the presence of the Lord By this reading, prosperity should be seen as more than the accumulation of material success, but a quality related to living in the presence of God here on earth.

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 16

Why are promises extended to the Lamanites? What are these promises?
Why does ignorance provoke mercy?
What does prolonging existence in the land have to do with the mercy or favor of God?

[edit]

Verse 17

Alma says that someday the Lamanites will learn the truth and, therefore, of the falsity of their fathers’ traditions. To what traditions is he referring? Does this mean that Native Americans will give up their cultural traditions when they are converted?
What does Alma mean here by being saved?
What does it mean to "call on" the name of the Lord?

[edit]

Verse 18

How does this statement by Alma about impending destruction manifest his preaching by the spirit of prophecy and revelation?
Alma says the people will be destroyed by both the Lamanites and the "fierce anger of the Lord". How do the actions of the Lamanites represent the anger of the Lord?

[edit]

Verse 19

Why would the Lord prefer to have all the Nephites destroyed rather than allow them to continue in sin after he has blessed them? To unbelievers the Lord may sound petulant, like a “martyr-parent,” who says, “Since you are ungrateful after all I’ve done for you, I’ll show you.” How would you explain this to someone who saw these verses that way?
What is the "light and knowledge" given unto the Nephites? Does this have anything to do with the further light and knowledge found in modern temple ceremonies?

[edit]

Verse 20

What does it mean to have been "highly favored people of the Lord"?
In what way were the Nephites "favored above every other nation, kindred, tongue, or people"?
What great blessings did the Nephites enjoy?
How were "all things made known" unto the Nephites. Does this have anything to do with seership (cf. Mosiah 8)?
What is the relationship between desire, faith, and prayer, and how do they lead to knowledge?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

How do these prophecies and Alma's teaching reflect the promise given to Lehi in 2 Ne 1:9-12?

[edit]

Verse 21

What does it mean to have been "visited by the Spirit of God"?
How widespread was the visitation of angels in Nephite society?
How were the people "spoken unto by the voice of the Lord"?
How is preaching a gift?

[edit]

Verse 22

How were the people delivered "by the hand of the Lord"? Is this just another way of saying that the Lord did it, or is there something else referred to here?
How were the people "saved from famine, and from sickness, and from all manner of diseases of every kind"? Is this referred to elsewhere in the Nephite record?
How does Alma refer to both spiritual and temporal blessings? What is the relationship between spiritual and temporal blessings? Is there a difference?

[edit]

Verse 23

What does it mean to "transgress contrary to the light and knowledge" that you have? Don't we all do this sometimes?

[edit]

Verse 24

What does it mean to "utterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth"?

[edit]

Verse 25

Alma says that the Lord sent an angel to many people to tell them to come to this people and cry repentance. Does this "many" refer to more than Alma and Amulek? Does this have anything to do with the criticism the people make in verse 6 that God only sent one person?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes
vs. 23 - There are only four uses of the phrase "light and knowledge" in all the scriptures. (Wouldn't you have thought it was a more common phrase?) See also Alma 39:6; Alma 45:12; D&C 77:4.

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 26

How does this description of the Savior square with vv. 19-24?
What is the glory of God? Is that the same as the "glory of the Only Begotten of the Father"? What does it mean for the Son of God to come in the "glory of the Only Begotten of the Father?
What does it mean to be "full of" grace, equity, truth, patience, mercy, and long-suffering?
In what ways is the Lord "quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers"? Who are "his people", members of the Church? In modern terms there a difference between how quickly he answers prayers of members of the Church ("his people") and others?

[edit]

Verse 27

How does Alma's teachings here about who the Lord will redeem compare with the teachings of Nehor (which the people of Ammonihah follow) found in Alma 1:3-4?
What does it mean to have "faith on [the Lord's] name"?

[edit]

Verse 28

What is the way of the Lord? How are the people supposed to prepare the way?
How does this teaching about rewards for works compare with the teachings of Nehor in Alma 1:3-4?
What is the "power and captivation of the devil? How is that contrasted with the "power and deliverance" of Jesus Christ?
What is the "damnation of...souls"?

[edit]

Verse 29

Alma claims that these teachings come from "the voice of the angel". Why is it important for Alma to declare that? In our modern preaching and teaching, how important is it for us to say where our message comes from?

[edit]

Verse 30

Why does Alma call these people his "brethren"?
Why does he call them "beloved brethren" and then call them a "lost and a fallen people"?
What does it mean for the people to have hearts that are "grossly hardened against the word of God"?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Countering the doctrine of Nehor. We know that the leaders of the people in Ammonihah were followers of Nehor, and in vs. 26-28, Alma counters point by point the teachings of Nehor as recorded in Alma 1:3-4.

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 31

If the people were going to be "wroth" with Alma for doing so, why did he call them hard-hearted and stiffnecked? When is it appropriate to hammer people with such unflattering portraits of their behavior? When is it inappropriate?

[edit]

Verse 32

Alma has really ticked these people off. Why did he have to say such harsh things against the people? Is there any sense in which this might have been counter-productive?

[edit]

Verse 33

How did Alma avoid being taken into captivity if everyone was trying to "lay their hands upon [him]"?

[edit]

Verse 34

Why weren't more of the words of Amulek written? To what degree should we take the teachings of Amulek, a recently converted missionary, as scripture for our day? What does taking his words as scripture imply about our own teachings in similar situations?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

Does this fit with the pattern of preaching we have seen Alma use? (See the questions for Alma 8:9-11.)

[edit]

Verse 2

Why don't we have more written about Aminadi and this incident of the writing on the wall of the temple? Which temple did this happen at?
Why does Amulek give his genealogy here?

[edit]

Verse 3

Why was it important for Amulek to establish his descent from Nephi, and to give the lineage of Lehi and Nephi?
What do we know about the blessing promised to the tribe of Manasseh?

[edit]

Verse 4

What does it mean for Amulek to say he is "a man of no small reputation"?
Why does Amulek reference his family, friends, and riches?
What does it mean for Amulek to have "acquired much riches by the hand of my industry"? Whereas most people would have been subsistence farmers, does this indicate that Amulek is perhaps of a more noble class or perhaps some kind of craft specialist, rather than a farmer?
What does Amulek mean by "industry"?
What constitutes "riches" in Nephite or Ammonihah society?

[edit]

Verse 5

Why does Amulek say that he has not "known much of the ways of the Lord"?
What does Amulek mean by "mysteries and marvelous power" of the Lord?
What does the "preservation of the lives of this people" have to do with the "mysteries and marvelous power" of the Lord?
What does Amulek mean by "marvelous" power? Is this just a flowery adjective, or does it have a greater significance?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Marvelous. Webster's 1828 dictionary gives three definitions, including: 1. Wonderful; strange; exciting wonder or some degree of surprise (eg. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Ps.118), 2. Surpassing credit; incredible, 3. The marvelous, in writings, is that which exceeds natural power, or is preternatural; opposed to probable. The term translated marvelous in Ps 118:23 is the Hebrew Pala', which occurs 69 times in the Old Testament, and seems to refer to something being hard, difficult, extraordinary, beyond one's power.

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

Why would an angel visit Amulek in his house (v. 10) if Alma was already there to preach the gospel to him? (see exegesis)
Is there a chance that he is referrring to Alma as an angel as mortal missionaries are sometimes lovingly called by their converts?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

[edit]

Verse 10

Amulek tells us in verse 10 that while Alma was at his house an angel came to visit him. The verse tells us that the reason the angel was sent was "to make these things manifest unto me." Since Alma was already in Amulek's house and Alma knew the things, it doesn't seem like the angelic visit was necessary just to tell these things to Amulek. Neverthless, the Lord did choose to deliver his message in this miraculous means. And, like Paul and Alma the Younger, it doesn't seem from the scriptures that Amulek received this angelic witness due to his personal faith or righteousness. It may be that the Lord choose this miraculous means to give the people a second witness whose testimony was independent from the first's.

[edit]

Questions

Verse 11 "my women" Is it possible that Amulek had more than one wife? Or possibly, these are his sisters?

Verse 12 In what sense has more than one person testified of the things the people of Ammonihah are accused of? Why does Alma accuse them and mention things to come, but Amulek doesn't?

Verses 13-15, 27, 32 How are the conditions described here similar to those found today?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

That the people intend to "deliver them to their judges that they might be judged according to the law" (v. 13, emphasis added) could be seen as symptomatic of an emphasis on the political in this society. (See also Alma 8:12, Alma 10:24, and Alma 10:19-20.

[edit]

Questions

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

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

v. 19-20 - It's interesting that Amulek addresses the political realm to which the people are bound (see Alma 8:12, Alma 10:13, and Alma 10:24). He makes particular mention of Mosiah--a profoundly political figure in the Book of Mormon--and places the Lord in the role of judge. Amulek's attempt to interweave the call to repentance with their favored political language fails, however, and is only finally distracted by teachings of the resurrection in the following chapters.

[edit]

Questions

v. 22 - Why does Amulek feel the need to distinguish the threatened destruction from the method of Noah's day?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

v. 24 - It's clear that the people are particularly incensed at Amulek's attack on the realm of law and its officers, betraying a focus on the political. (See also Alma 8:12, Alma 10:13, and Alma 10:19-20.)

[edit]

Questions

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

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

What does "stripped" mean in verse 2? It sounds like this is a punishment for not paying someone when you owe them money.

vv. 4-19: Why do you think the Book of Mormon includes these monetary units? Why are they put here in the middle of the story of Alma and Amulek’s preaching? Why do you think the compilers of the Book of Mormon chose to include them? What purpose might this account of money serve us in the latter-days?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

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

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

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

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

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

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

v. 21: What does “devices of the devil” mean?

v. 22: Why might Zeezrom begin with such an obvious and insulting temptation? Why not begin with something more subtle?

v. 25: For what sin does Amulek say Zeezrom will be destroyed? For tempting him?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verses 28-29: More than one God?

How can one reconcile and what can we learn from Amulek's emphatic "no" in response to Zeezrom, and the uncertainty Joseph Smith expresses in D&C 121:28 (see also verse 32) about "whether there be one God or many gods"?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

v. 34: What does it mean to save the people in their sins?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

vv. 38-39: Why doesn't Amulek do a more careful job of explaining the relationship between God the Father and his son Jesus Christ?

v. 37: This verse speaks of something that God cannot do. How does it explain that limitation on his power?

vv. 38ff.: Notice how Zeezrom’s one question brings a long, detailed response from Amulek? Why does Amulek answer as he does? Why not give Zeezrom a shorter, more simple answer?

vv. 38-39: What does it mean to say that Christ is the Eternal Father? What does it mean to say that he is the beginning and the end? What does it mean to say that he is the first and the last? Given our understanding of the eternal nature of spirits, how do you make sense of these statements about God?

V. 39: Why does the exact same phrase, "the beginning and the end, the first and the last" show up here and in Rev 22:13?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

vv. 42-45: Why does Alma tell them of the redemption of the body? How does this function in his call to repentance?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

Verse 1: How had Zeezrom been caught in lying?

Verse 1: Zeezrom has become conscious of his guilt. What in particular might have brought about that consciousness? In what sense is Alma “unfolding the scriptures"?

Verses 3-6: Satan laid a trap for Zeezrom by getting Zeezrom to lay a trap for Alma. How is Satan’s trap similar to Zeezrom’s?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 8

Zeezrom's change. How has Zeezrom changed? (How can you tell?)

First question. Why are these questions the first ones that Zeezrom asks?

[edit]

Verse 9

Mysteries. What is a mystery of God? “Mystery” and “mysteries” are used 70 times in the English scriptures (see link below). Its most common synonym is “secret.” If many know the mysteries of God, how are they a secret? Notice that these words occur much more often in Restoration scriptures than in the Bible. Why do you think that is?

Impart only. What does “they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him” mean in contemporary, ordinary English?

[edit]

Verses 9-15

Resurrection and mysteries. Here Alma indirectly explains why he told Zeezrom about temporal death and the resurrection. What is his explanation—what does it have to do with the mysteries of God?

[edit]

Lexical notes

[edit]

Verse 9

Mysteries. While we don't know exactly what word is being translated here as "mysteries", in the New Testament the English word "mystery" is a translation of the Greek noun musterion, which originally meant the secret teachings and religious rites of ancient religious orders—such as the Orphic mysteries. The equivalent Hebrew word of mystery means ordinance or hand.

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 13

Hardened our hearts against the word. Why does Alma modify or clarify his statement "if our hearts have been hardened" with "against the word" (cf. verse 10)?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

Verse 16: What does it mean to die in sin? Does the word “in” carry any particular weight?

Verses 17-18: Why is it a punishment to continue to live in our sins? How does this square with the discussion of everlasting punishment in D&C 19? Do you think Alma knew of the explanation we see in the D&C?

Cannot be redeemed. Why would God create a plan in which he knew that some of us would not be able to return to him?

Verses 20-21: Do you think that Antionah’s questions are sincere? Why or why not?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

[edit]

Verse 18

Cannot be redeemed. God cannot save everyone, because to do so would make him a liar and he would cease to be God (see Alma 42:13). God's justice is based on just (true, correct) principles; he has clearly set forth the rules and the punishment for breaking those rules. All we can do is to choose to obey them or not (see Mosiah 15:26-27). Ultimately, our downfall will be our own doing.

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 23

It appears that Alma's main concern about Adam and Eve partaking the fruit was the truthfulness of God. Why does the veracity of God's word hold such weight for Alma?

[edit]

Verse 24

Probationary. What does it mean to say that life is probationary? Is the word being used as it is when we speak of criminals on probation? If so, is the implication that we have already been convicted? Alma teaches here that life is the time given us to repent. How do we avoid a belief in original sin given these teachings?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

[edit]

Verse 21

Antionah's question is decisive because he draws explicitly on Gen 3:24, that is, on the conclusion of the Fall story as it is recorded in Gen 2-3. But it must be clear at the same time that Antionah seems to draw on something more than just what is recorded in Genesis: the Genesis text is hardly as specific as Antionah is. The Genesis text reads: "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." The precision with which most of Antionah's quotation and the Genesis text match up is remarkable, and this very precision highlights the few differences between them: though the Genesis text implies that Adam and Eve are to be kept from the tree of life, there is no specific mention of entering or partaking, and certainly not of living forever! (It is perhaps also worth mentioning that the Genesis text mentions only the man here, while Antionah has reference to "our first parents," perhaps an echo of Lehi's discourse to his son Jacob—especially 2 Ne 2:15. It is probably worth exploring the filiation that seems to obtain between Antionah's reading and the remarkably theological discourse of Lehi.) What is to be made of this difference? More importantly, perhaps: how does this difference alter the direction in which Alma takes his discourse?

As it turns out, the difference is hardly a minor one: it is the business of living forever that is the most important element of "the scripture" for Antionah. His conclusion draws on that phrasing only: "And thus we see that there was no possible chance that they should live forever." Although it seems that Antionah is familiar with some scripture, it seems he is not familiar with Jacob's teachings in 2 Ne 9:13, 15.

[edit]

Verse 25

One way to read this verse is to consider the possibility of Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit of the tree of life before having time to prepare to meet God. If this were the case, Adam and Eve would not have died before becoming immortal, and would therefore not be resurrected (emphasis on the re- prefix, that is, without dying, it does not make sense to be raised from the dead as the term resurrection implies).

[edit]

Questions

Verses 26-27: These verses seem to answer the question in v. 24 about why life is probationary. How?

[edit]

Lexical notes

Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes

[edit]

Exegesis

Click the edit link above and to the right to add exegesis

[edit]

Questions

[edit]

Verse 31

Gods. Why is “Gods” capitalized in this verse? Usually it is capitalized only when it is used as the name of Deity, not when it is used to refer to an office or position. In what ways are we like Gods? Why is that significant?

Site:SS lessons/BOM lesson 23

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

Questions

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Verse 5

Related links

Questions

Verse 7

Verse 9

Verse 10

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 11

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 16

Verse 17

Alma 18

Alma 19

Verse 20

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 25

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 26

Verse 28

Verse 29

Verse 32

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Lexical notes

Exegesis

Related links

Questions

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Lexical notes