Comments on Alma 33 In this chapter Alma fields a second question, whether they had to believe in "one God" (v. 1). As the Zoramite priests and teachers had rejected the doctrine of Christ as folly (cf. 31:16- 17), these people are now questioning Alma as to its validity. In the typical Law of Moses fashion of every word being established by two or three witnesses, Alma cites Zenos (v. 3- 11), Zenock (v. 15-17), and Moses (v. 18-20) as testifying of Christ. He then exhorts them to believe in Christ (v. 21-23). v3 "Zenos, the prophet of old", see my general comments on Jacob 5 in LDSS Vol. 4, No. 13 for a discussion of who this Zenos is. v4-11 is a quote of Zenos. In the present context Alma's primary purpose is to point out to them that Zenos makes reference to the Son of God, cf. v. 11. But, Zenos' comments concerning praying over many things in many places also serves to address the subject of the question in the preceding chapter concerning worship strictly limited to synagogues, cf. v. 2. v9 "in the midst of thy congregations", in all likelihood this phrase was taken from Ps. 74:4, the only other appearance of that phrase in the Scriptures. The KJV on this passage doesn't do a particularly good job at translating this, so compare the KJV on Ps 74 with the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) translation of the same passage: KJV JPS --- --- 3 Lift up thy feet unto Lift up Your feet because of the perpetual desolations; of the perpetual tumult, all of the outrages even all that the enemy of the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. in the sanctuary. 4 Thine enemies roar Your foes roar in the midst of thy congregations; inside your meeting place; they set up their ensigns they take their signs, for signs. for true signs. It is more plain in the JPS that "in the midst of thy congregations" really means "inside your meeting place", which is in parallel to the "sanctuary". In other words, the Temple. What Zenos is saying in v. 9 is that the Lord has heard his prayers in the Temple. This rounds out the places where Zenos prays in v. 4-9 to include all kinds of places including, but not exclusively, the Temple. v10 "mine enemies, thou didst visit them in thine anger with speedy destruction", while some of the enemies are destroyed in the Lord's anger, some of them do turn to Zenos and they become friends per v. 4. Who these enemies are is unclear. In Ps. 74 the enemies are those who despoil and profane the Temple, setting up their own form of idolatrous worship there. However, one could easily read Ps. 74 as a lament after the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem. v21 Alma is likening these people to those of ancient Israel who refused to look to the brass serpent so they might live. Copyright © 2001 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.