[Page 197]Abstract: Mormon describes Alma the Younger’s “go[ing] about secretly” to destroy the church that his father, Alma the Elder, had established (Mosiah 27:8–10), this as a narratalogical inversion of that period when Alma the Elder “went about privately” teaching the words of Abinadi and establishing a church “that it might not come to the knowledge of the king” (Mosiah 18:1–6). In Mosiah 27:10, Mormon subtly reworks Alma the Younger’s autobiographical statement preserved in Alma 36:6, adding in the former passage a word rendered “secretly” to create a midrashic or interpretive pun on the name Alma, echoing the meaning of the Semitic root ʿlm, “hide,” “conceal”). Mosiah 27:8–10 contains additional language that evokes the introduction of the name Alma in the Book of Mormon (at first in terms of ʿelem [“young man”] but also in terms of the homonymous root ʿlm) in Mosiah 17:2–4 but also re-invokes allusions in the latter passage to Mosiah 14:1 (Isaiah 53:1).

Alma: The “Young Man” Who Becomes “Hidden”

Latter-day Saint scholars have put together a convincing case that Alma constitutes an example of a Semitic name attested in the Book of Mormon but unattested in the Hebrew Bible.¹ Elsewhere I have proposed that Mormon’s narratalogical introduction of the name Alma into the Book of Mormon text in juxtaposition with the description “and he was a young man” (Hebrew ʿelem = “young man”)² constitutes a [Page 198]deliberate wordplay — or play on meaning — involving the name Alma.³ I have further argued that Mormon’s subsequent statements regarding Alma’s being “hidden” and “concealed” and going about “privately”⁴ while writing the words of Abinadi and establishing a church constitute an interpretive (or midrashic) paronomasia⁵ on the name Alma in terms of the Semitic/Hebrew root ʿlm (“conceal,” “hide”)⁶ possibly employing one of its synonyms.⁷

However, Mormon’s narrative art goes even further. In this article I will attempt to show that Mormon crafted his description of Alma the Younger’s furtive attempts to destroy his father’s church in Mosiah 27:8– 10 as a narratalogical inversion of his (Mormon’s) earlier description of Alma the Elder’s proselyting and efforts at building and establishing a church in Mosiah 18:1–6, especially the statement, “he went about privately” (Mosiah 18:1).⁸ In particular, Mormon subtly reworks Alma the Younger’s autobiographical statement, “For I went about with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the Church” (Alma 36:6), into the more vivid biographical description, “for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the Church” (Mosiah 27:10). Mormon’s addition of an expression rendered “secretly” constitutes an additional interpretive pun — or paronomasia — on the name Alma, exploiting the latter in terms of the meaning of the Semitic/Hebrew root *ʿlm, to “hide” or “conceal,” probably in terms of one of its synonyms.

Moreover, I will attempt to demonstrate that Mormon’s biographical statements regarding Alma the Younger in Mosiah 27:8–10 recall his narrative introduction of Alma the Elder — and the name Alma — into the Book of Mormon text in Mosiah 17:2–5. In other words, Mosiah 27:8–10 employs additional language that evokes the introduction of the name Alma in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 17:2–5 but also re-invokes important allusions in Mosiah 17:2–5 to Mosiah 14:1 (Isaiah 53:1).

“For He Did Go About”/“For I Went About”

First, Mormon’s editorial use of Alma’s autobiographical account of his conversion to his son Helaman, which Mormon includes wholesale later as (what is now) Alma 36, in composing what is now Mosiah 27 should be noted:

[Page 199]

Mormon quite clearly fashioned his biographical statement about Alma the Younger in Mosiah 27:10 from Alma’s autobiographical statement to his son Helaman in Alma 36:6. In fact, Mosiah’s 27:10 use of language preserved in Alma 36:6 constitutes as transparent an example of textual dependency as one could wish for.

The textual dependency of Mosiah 27:10 on Alma’s statement to Helaman (Alma 36:6) draws even more attention to Mormon’s deliberate inclusion of terminology rendered “secretly,” which appears to reflect a literary interpretation (or midrash) of the name Alma in terms of the Semitic Hebrew root *ʿlm (see below), a phenomenon detailed in two previous studies.⁹ Mormon’s addition of the adverbial construction “secretly” (often in biblical Hebrew bassēter [bĕ + sēter, literally, “in secret”]; cf. Hebrew substantivized participles like ʿălumênû¹⁰ [“our secret sins”] and neʿlām [“secret thing”])¹¹ represents a deliberate authorial and editorial decision that begs further investigation. Not only does Mosiah 27:10 evidence an intertextual relationship with Alma 36:6, but Mosiah 27:8–10 also evidences a strong intertextual relationship with Mosiah 18:1–6.

“He Did Go About Secretly”/“And [He] Went About Privately”

Mormon’s logic for supplementing Alma the Younger’s autobiographical language (preserved in Alma 36:6) with an expression rendered “secretly” in Mosiah 27:10 becomes apparent in a comparison of Mosiah 27:8–10 with Alma the Elder’s “private” or “hidden” church-building activities in Mosiah 18:1–6.[Page 200]

In narratalogical terms, Alma the Younger’s “going about secretly” to destroy the church through flattery, “causing much dissension,” leading [Page 201]many to “do after the manner of his iniquities” represents the diametric opposite of his father’s attempts to teach¹² and establish a church¹³ “privately” and while “hidden.” In Mosiah 27:10, as in Mosiah 18:1–6, Mormon’s mention of the furtive nature of Alma the Younger’s activities (“he did go about secretly”) is a midrashic wordplay on Alma in terms of the meaning of the root *ʿlm.

Contributing further to the inversionary or refractory picture of Alma the Younger’s activities against the backdrop of his father’s biography is the fact that both conduct their activities “secretly” in opposition to the king. Alma the Younger sought to “lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God [and] the king”; namely, righteous King Mosiah (cf. especially Mosiah 27:10). Alma the Elder’s work was done “privately, that it might not come to a knowledge of the king” (Mosiah 18:3)¹⁴ — i.e., wicked King Noah.

“Among The Unbelievers”: Alma the Younger’s Initial
Disbelief in Alma the Elder’s Report

Mormon’s biographical statements that introduce Alma the Younger into his narrative also beg a comparison with his earlier introduction of Alma the Elder into his narrative. Mormon introduces the name Alma into his record for the first time in Mosiah 17:2. He does so with an apparent wordplay on Alma in terms of Hebrew ʿelem, “young man,” “stripling”¹⁵ and in terms of the root ʿlm and its meaning.

Mormon’s repetition of the name Alma (2x) in Mosiah 27:10 recalls the partial repetition of Alma in Mosiah 17:2 — “Alma” (ʿalmāʾ) juxtaposed with the expression “young man” (Hebrew ʿelem).

Moreover, Mosiah 17:2 preserves the datum that Alma the Elder was a descendant of Nephi (“he also being a descendant of Nephi”). As has been noted in a previous study,¹⁶ this verse is textually dependent on Nephi’s autobiographical statements in 1 Nephi 1:1 and 1 Nephi 2:15. And, as noted above, Mormon intended Mosiah 27:8–10 to refract information given in Mosiah 17:2–4. Thus, Mormon’s introductory biographical statement regarding Alma the Younger in Mosiah 27:8 that Alma the Younger “became a very wicked and idolatrous man. And he was a man of many words,” may invert two earlier autobiographical introductory statements from Nephi’s small plates:[Page 202]

[Page 203]

Alma the Elder began as a “young man” and “one among” King Noah’s priests but later “believed the words which Abinadi had spoken.” These details recall the autobiography of his “goodly” ancestor Nephi, who albeit “young,” nevertheless “believed all of the words which had been spoken by [his] father.” On the other hand, Mormon describes Alma the Younger as “one of the sons of Alma … numbered among [the unbelievers], he being called Alma,” refracting the description of his father as a “one among” King Noah’s wicked priests and a “young man [who] believed the words which Abinadi had spoken.”

[Page 204]If Alma the Elder had honored his descent from Nephi, his “good” ancestor,” by “believing” the words of Abinadi (perhaps, “my father has shown himself generous” or “my father is willing”) just as Nephi “believed” the words of his father (Lehi), Alma the Younger, as an “unbeliever,” “became a very wicked and an idolatrous man … and a man of many words.” As such, he represents an inversion of Nephi, Enos, and his own father Alma, who became worthy of their given names, because they “believed” or had “faith” in the “words” that they had been taught (1 Nephi 2:16; Enos 1:3–8; Mosiah 17:2).

“Traveling Round About … Publishing”:

Reversal and Reparation

Following his encounter with and correction by the “angel of the Lord,”²⁰ Alma’s life takes an entirely different trajectory. Mormon uses language that emphasizes the nature of Alma and the sons of Mosiah’s repentance as a complete reversal of his previous activities:

And now it came to pass that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, and those who were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them, traveling round about through all the land, publishing to all the people the things which they had heard and seen, and preaching the word of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many of them. (Mosiah 27:32)

Mormon here emphasizes that whereas Alma previously “did go about secretly [cf. Hebrew bassēter] with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the Church” (Mosiah 27:10), he now “travel[ed] about throughout all the land” with the sons of Mosiah (“those who were with Alma”) “publishing” — i.e., publicly causing the people to hear (cf. mašmîaʿ, Isaiah 52:7) — his firsthand experiences. Thus, Alma the Younger’s “go[ing] about secretly” — i.e., “insidiously” and “craftily” (cf. the “dissemblers” [naʿălāmîm] of Psalm 26:4) — becomes a very public form of repentance.²¹ Apart from those who were with him at the time the angel appeared to him, the “unbelievers” who had been Alma’s friends and supporters at this point turn against him.

As if to drive the point home, Mormon repeats much of the foregoing data regarding Alma’s great reversal and repentance:

And they traveled throughout all the land of Zarahemla, and among all the people who were under the reign of king Mosiah, zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church, confessing all their sins, and [Page 205]publishing all the things which they had seen, and explaining the prophecies and the scriptures to all who desired to hear them. (Mosiah 27:35)

Since Alma the Younger had done harm to the church established by his father, by “going about secretly … to destroy [it],” his repentance involved, in proportion, “traveling round about through all the land … publishing” including “travel[ing] throughout all the land of Zarahemla,” again “publishing all the things which they had seen.”

The strategy of Mormon’s repetition of a verb rendered “publish” (Mosiah 27:32, 35; Hebrew mašmîaʿ < hišmîaʿ “cause to hear” < šāmaʿ, “hear”) becomes evident in subsequent verses

And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth. (Mosiah 27:36–37)

Mormon here, of course, paraphrases Isaiah 52:7, linking Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah with Isaiah’s “proclaimer of peace,” and thus to Abinadi, and Alma the Elder from the previous narratives.²² Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah had been “numbered among the unbelievers.” Now they, like Alma the Elder, had become those “to whom” or “upon whom” (ʿal-mî) the Lord had revealed his arm (Isaiah 53:1; Mosiah 14:1; 17:2):

And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me. (Alma 29:10)

The Lord’s previously hidden arm of mercy²³ — hidden, at least from Alma the Younger’s perspective — is now revealed to him and upon him, just as it was revealed “to” and “upon” his father (cf. Mosiah 14:1; 15:31; 16:12). Moreover, the “power” or “hand” of the Lord is now revealed in a new way to Alma the Elder, his father (Mosiah 27:21–23). Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah will now go forth in the Lord’s power, as “instruments in the hands of God” (Mosiah 27:36) to bring thousands of people to a knowledge of their Redeemer.²⁴ As divine “instruments” or “weapons,” they will, ironically, help thousands of Lamanites “lay down the weapons of their rebellion” (Alma 23:7; see also Helaman 5:51; Mormon 7:4).

[Page 206]Finally, we might mention here that Mormon’s use of the phrase “zealously striving to repair” may evidence an additional point of textual dependency. Alma the Younger, in a final exhortation to his son Corianton, who evidently experienced some of the same struggles as his father and his grandfather before him, enjoined him to “turn to the Lord with all your mind, might, and strength; that ye lead away the hearts of no more to do wickedly; but rather return unto them, and acknowledge your faults and repair²⁵ that wrong which ye have done” (Alma 39:13). Alma the Younger here declares the precise manner of his own repentance. Thus, Mormon seems to have crafted his statement in Mosiah 27:35, especially the statements “zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done to the church” and “confessing all their sins,” on the basis of this verse.²⁶

Conclusion: Every Word Counts

Alma the Younger repeatedly admonishes his sons Helaman and Corianton to “learn wisdom” and to take counsel in their “youth [cf. Hebrew ʿălûmîm²⁷]”: (“O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth” [Alma 36:3]; “O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God” [Alma 37:35]; “behold, thou art in thy youth, and ye stand in need to be nourished by your brothers” [Alma 39:10]). Nor is it by chance that Alma praises his son Shiblon for having “commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God” (Alma 38:2). Alma the Younger, like his father Alma the Elder, had made decisions as “young men” (cf. ʿelem) in their “youth” to learn wisdom, rather than continue on a course toward destruction.

As we examine the language that revolves around the name “Alma” and the stories of Alma the Elder and his son Alma the Younger, it seems clear that Mormon was aware of the name’s potential meanings — real and paronomastic — and exploited them for literary effect. This awareness shaped his inclusion and stitching together of events. The direct dependency of Mosiah 27:10 on what became Alma 36:6, and the deliberate refraction of Mosiah 18:1–6 in Mosiah 27:8–10 — especially in the phrases “went about privately”/“he did go about secretly” suggests that Mormon was not a novice storyteller or a clumsy editor-historian. Mormon’s skills as a historian and editor most certainly included the ability to write a cogent, compelling narrative of marked literary sophistication.

As the intertextual evidence within the Book of Mormon itself continues to be examined, this evidence may have some bearing on the “tight control” versus “loose control” debate regarding the book’s [Page 207]translation.²⁸ A plausible translation model needs to account for the narratological and intertextual complexity of the book. I believe we can say with certainty that every word counts in the translation text of the Book of Mormon and that Mormon and Moroni included no idle words or phrases in its vorlage. Thus, one important task of future Book of Mormon scholars and exegetes will be to unpack the richness of meaning in each word and phrase.