Talk:Alma 22:21-25

the meaning of the verb minister in this verse

Does anyone else find the way the word minister is used here to be a bit curious? I wonder if even though it is used as a verb it really is more a reflection of the meaning of the noun minister (as in a pastor). To me that would make more sense given the context. Does anyone know of any other examples where minister is used to refer to teaching? Or alternatively am I misreading this verse? --Matthew Faulconer 16:14, 4 Nov 2005 (UTC)

I read minister as a verb form of ministry--reading it this way, I think there is a much stronger connotation of teaching (this connotation isn't explicit in Webster's 1828 dictionary, but I think it is used this way in latter day scripture). This link to ministry seems consistent with the intransitive defitinion given in Webster's 1828: "to perform service in any office, sacred or secular" where in this context the office would be missionary. Interestingly, the Church's website lists ministry as a form of minister when searching (e.g. see this this search). --RobertC 13:11, 5 Nov 2005 (UTC)

One interesting note. In verse 25 the word administer is used instead to represent what seems to be the same thing that minister represented earlier. --Matthew Faulconer 16:22, 4 Nov 2005 (UTC)

From just these verses and my own sense of the words, I would think administer has a more general explicate connotation and less of a "preach the gospel" connotation. But Webster's 1828 doesn't seem to even hint at teaching usage for the word administer. Another BOM verse that seems to use administer with a clear teaching connotation is Alma 22:3. --RobertC 13:11, 5 Nov 2005 (UTC)