Comments on Mosiah 18 v1-6 Alma privately teaches the gospel to whoever will listen. v2 "the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the people", Mormon sets up a nice physical-spiritual parallelism with resurrection-redemption. v3 Even though the society in general had grown decadent, there were still people among it who had not abandoned a religious viewpoint. v4 "a place which was called Mormon", compare v. 30. This is the author's namesake, cp. 3 Ne. 5:12. v7-17 Alma organizes those who come to hear him preach into a "church" and people join by baptism. v10 "a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant", the act of baptism isn't the covenant in and of itself, it is a symbolic act representing the covenant. It represents and formalizes the covenant. v11 "they clapped their hands for joy", the concept of clapping one's hands in contemporary Western Culture is different from that of ancient Semitic culture. The Hebrew term "nakaw" in the OT appears most often in the context of putting your hands on someone violently. It is also used as an emphatic descriptor of rejoicing, as is the case in the present text. The Strong's entry follows: 05221 nakah {naw-kaw'} a primitive root; TWOT - 1364; v AV - smite 348, slay 92, kill 20, beat 9, slaughter 5, stricken 3, given 3, wounded 3, strike 2, stripes 2, misc 13; 500 1) to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill 1a) (Niphal) to be stricken or smitten 1b) (Pual) to be stricken or smitten 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to smite, strike, beat, scourge, clap, applaud, give a thrust 1c2) to smite, kill, slay (man or beast) 1c3) to smite, attack, attack and destroy, conquer, subjugate, ravage 1c4) to smite, chastise, send judgment upon, punish, destroy 1d) (Hophal) to be smitten 1d1) to receive a blow 1d2) to be wounded 1d3) to be beaten 1d4) to be (fatally) smitten, be killed, be slain 1d5) to be attacked and captured 1d6) to be smitten (with disease) 1d7) to be blighted (of plants) See Gen 8:21 for an example of "smite", see Exod 2:11 for an example of "smiting", see 2 Kings 11:12 for an example of "clap" in the context of rejoicing, and see Ezek. 25:6 in a negative context of reveling. See also Alma 31:36 where is says: Now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words, that he clapped his hands upon all them who were with him. And behold, as he clapped his hands upon them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The "clapp[ing]" in Alma 31:36 obviously has nothing to do with applause. When it says "they clapped their hands for joy" in the present verse it probably had more to do with the people patting each other on the back and other emphatic displays of affection than applause. v13 "I baptize thee", the religious act of immersion which Christians refer to as baptism was not a NT novelty. We are informed in PofGP Moses 6:64 that Adam was immersed in the water, and the Jews have a similar practice even today called "tevillah" which is a ritual immersion. "having authority", in all likelihood Alma was ordained a priest during Zeniff's reign as king and then consecrated to Noah's inner circle of priests because he was self-promoting, cf. 11:5. While he would have been apostate with his involvement with Noah's priests, his ordination would have still be valid. And, given his repentance, he was once again worth to exercise his Priesthood. Compare v. 18 where it explicitly states Alma had authority to ordain other priests. "as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead", in addition to being symbolic of shedding the carnal life in favor of a new spiritual one (cf. John 3:3-5) and of the ressurrection (cd. Acts 1:22, 1 Pet. 3:21), baptism indicates the person being baptised will endure to the end, cf. 3 Ne. 15:9, Mormon 9:29. "may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you", note there is nothing in the text suggesting a confirmation or blessing of reception of the Holy Ghost as occurs in the present Church under the auspices of the Melchizedek Priesthood. This suggests the priesthood operative among them was of the Aaronic order, as was the case with Israel in general during this time. The authority to lay on hands for the reception of the Holy Spirit is not generally given to the Nephites until 3 Ne. 18:37. v17 "they were called the church of God", the term "church" is one that is limited to the NT in the Bible. The English word "church" is used to translate the Greek term "ekklesia" which literally translates to "the out-called", or those who have been called out, the chosen, the elect. In this case, Alma's group has been called out from Noah's decadent society. The idea of a chosen or elect people is one that is eminently OT (cf. Deut. 7:6, Ps. 33:12), its just that the term "church" isn't. For those who prefer a more OT flavor to the pre-advent portions of the BofM, the phrase would be "they were called the chosen of God, or those called of Christ". v18-30 Alma establishes a small-scale Zion community, complete with the Law of Consecration. v26-28 could easily be read as reactionary to the practices of Noah and his priests. v30 Mormon includes a parenthetical comment about how wonderful things were for that group. While he may just be waxing eloquent and verbose about his namesake, it is more likely Mormon's intention is to conveying to us how well things really were going for them. The description given in v. 18-29 presents a Zion community. People living in such a selfless and spiritual manner are bound to be happy and blessed. v31-35 While Alma and his group are some distance off from the cities they left, Noah still ends up finding out about them. He sends his armies to kill them, but they are apprized of the army's coming and the flee to safety. v34 "the people of the Lord were apprised", while there is nothing in the present text informing us if the apprisal was miraculous or not, in 23:1 it says "Alma...[was]...warned of the Lord" clearly suggesting some kind of revelation. 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.