Where we are
Alma 22 is the conversion that has been building since Alma 20. The great king — the king over all the Lamanite lands — has been desirous to know more ever since the road, where Ammon disarmed him and asked only for his son's kingdom and his brethren's freedom. Aaron, just out of Middoni's prison, is sent to him. The chapter is Aaron's preaching of the gospel, the king's prostration, his radical prayer, his collapse, his rising, and the proclamation that opens all the Lamanite lands to the Nephite mission.
The chapter then does something unusual. Mormon stops the narrative entirely and gives the reader a detailed geographical excursus — the narrow neck of land, the wilderness boundaries, the position of the cities. The geography insert is the single longest editorial intrusion in the Sons-of-Mosiah arc, and one of the most consequential pieces of Book of Mormon geographical data in the whole book. Mormon has held the geography until now because he needs the reader to understand, before Alma 23, the scope of the conversion that is about to happen. Seven cities. The whole Lamanite land. A geographical revolution.
The chapter has five movements: (1) Aaron at the palace, the king's question, and the creation-to-Christ tour (vv. 1–14); (2) the king's prayer and his fall (vv. 15–18); (3) the queen's alarm, Aaron's raising, the household conversion (vv. 19–26); (4) the king's proclamation of religious liberty throughout his land (vv. 27); (5) Mormon's geographical excursus (vv. 27–34).
Five verses carry most of the weight: v. 7 (the king's what is this that thou hast said?); v. 15 (the king's what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit?); v. 18 (the king's prayer — I will give away all my sins to know thee, that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day); v. 27 (the proclamation throughout all the land); vv. 27–34 (the geography insert, the longest unbroken geographical text in the Book of Mormon).
Aaron at the palace (verses 1–14)
Now, as Ammon was thus teaching the people of Lamoni continually, we will return to the account of Aaron and his brethren; for after he departed from the land of Middoni he was led by the Spirit to the land of Nephi, even to the house of the king which was over all the land save it were the land of Ishmael; and he was the father of Lamoni. — Alma 22:1
Aaron is led by the Spirit. The phrase is the same one Mark 1:12 will use of Jesus going into the wilderness: immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. The Book of Mormon's clearest pre-Markan text on the Spirit-led missionary direction is in this verse. Aaron does not march in by his own initiative. The Spirit takes him to the door.
The text also reminds us of the political shape. The father is king over all the land save it were the land of Ishmael. The land of Ishmael, in the wake of the Alma 20 covenant, has been politically separated from the great king's authority. Lamoni now reigns there as a free king under his father's grant. Everything else, the father still rules. Aaron is walking into the palace of the man who is still the great king of everything else.
And it came to pass that the king inquired of Aaron if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people. And Aaron said unto him: Yea, I will be one of thy servants. And it came to pass that the king said unto him: Behold, I am a friend to thee, and I would have thee remain in this land that thou mayest preach the word of God unto my people. — Alma 22:2–3 (paraphrastic of vv. 2–3)
The king greets Aaron exactly as Lamoni greeted Ammon in Alma 17:22–25. The same offer; the same answer; the same form of servanthood. The Book of Mormon is showing us, in this verse, that the doctrine of voluntary servanthood is the standing form of the missionary call. Aaron, like Ammon, refuses any royal status and offers himself as a servant. He does not yet know how the king's heart has been prepared. He does know that the form of the missionary's standing is the form Christ will later make explicit: whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (Matt. 20:26).
And the king said unto him: I will believe thy words, if thou wilt tell me what is the meaning of what thou hast said. — Alma 22:7 (paraphrastic — cf. 22:7's king's request for explanation)
The king's posture is the petitioner's. He has not refused; he has asked. Tell me what is the meaning of what thou hast said. The verse is one of the Book of Mormon's clearest texts on what receptive hearing sounds like. The man has been prepared. He is not arguing; he is asking. Aaron now has the opening every preacher prays for.
Behold, this is the matter that I would that thou shouldst explain unto me. What meanest thou, of which is spoken of, that the Spirit cometh to one and not to another? Behold, the angels appeared unto thy fathers, and they say they are sons of God, and that they have eternal life. But mine fathers were carnally minded, and have died in their sins. Behold, this is the thing that I would have explained unto me. — Alma 22:5–6 (cluster, paraphrased)
The king is asking a profound theological question. Why did the Spirit come to the Nephite fathers and not to mine? Why do you say sons of God of yours and not of ours? He is reasoning honestly out of his own tradition. His fathers, he believes, died in their sins. He wants to know why some receive the Spirit and others do not. The Book of Mormon's clearest text on the kind of question a heart-prepared seeker actually asks is in this verse.
Now Aaron began to open the scriptures unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and that there could be no redemption for mankind save it were through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood. — Alma 22:13 (cluster of vv. 12–14)
Aaron uses the same method Ammon used in Alma 18 and that he tried in the Amalekite synagogue in Alma 21: opening the scriptures from creation forward. The story is told. Creation. The fall. The plan of redemption from the foundation of the world. The death and resurrection of Christ. The Book of Mormon's clearest text on the doctrine that the gospel is preached by telling the story, not by debating propositions, is the way Aaron handles this question.
The phrase atonement of his blood is worth pausing on. The Greek of Romans 3:25 — whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood — uses hilasterion (mercy seat, propitiation). The doctrine that the redemption is through the blood is in Aaron's preaching here, hundreds of years before Paul writes the letter. The Book of Mormon's clearest pre-Pauline text on the atonement-by-blood doctrine, articulated to a Lamanite king, is in this verse.
The king's prayer and his fall (verses 15–18)
And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive of his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy. — Alma 22:15
The king's question is the question of every reader of the New Testament who has ever wondered what the rich young ruler should have said. What shall I do that I may have this eternal life? The rich young ruler of Matthew 19:16 asked the same question. The Lamanite king's response, however, is the opposite of the rich young ruler's. The young man went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. The Lamanite king says I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom. The Book of Mormon's clearest text on what the rich young ruler should have said is in this verse. The chapter offers, in this Lamanite king, a positive image of what total renunciation in pursuit of eternal life looks like.
But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest. — Alma 22:16
Aaron lays out the form. Bow down before God. Repent of all your sins. Call on his name in faith. Believe that ye shall receive. The Book of Mormon's clearest text on the four-step pattern of conversion — humbling, repentance, prayer in Christ's name, faith — is in this verse. The form is the form the Latter-day Saint tradition still teaches, eighty years before the apostles will codify it in the New Testament.
And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying: — Alma 22:17
The king does it. He does not delay. He does not wait until he understands every point. He prostrates himself on the floor of his own palace. The phrase upon his knees and upon the earth together make the picture: full prostration. The form of Daniel 9:3 — I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. The form of Christ in Gethsemane — he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed (Matt. 26:39). The great king has assumed the posture every great praying man in scripture has assumed.
O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead. — Alma 22:18
The chapter's master prayer. I will give away all my sins to know thee. The phrase has resonated through Latter-day Saint pulpits for the better part of a century. It is one of the canon's most concentrated articulations of what repentance actually is. Not modifying sins, not negotiating with them, not gradually phasing them out. Give them away. The verb is unconditional. The condition is to know thee. The Lamanite king is asking, in a single sentence, for total exchange — every sin in his life for the knowledge of God. The Book of Mormon's clearest text on the doctrine of unconditional repentance as the precondition of knowing God is in this verse.
The framing — Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me — is also the cleanest articulation of the prayer of the seeker in scripture. He does not pretend to certainty he does not have. He prays the prayer in the form of a question, on the condition of God's existence, and asks for revelation. The Book of Mormon's clearest text on what an honest seeker's prayer sounds like, when the seeker is not yet a believer, is the form of this prayer.
The phrase raised from the dead and saved at the last day are explicit Christological references. The king has been taught the resurrection and the judgment, and he prays as a man who believes both. The verse is also one of the Book of Mormon's clearest pre-Christian texts on the pre-mortal explicit-Christology of the Nephite mission preaching: the gospel taught was not allegorized covenant; it was resurrection and final judgment by name.
The queen's alarm and Aaron's raising (verses 19–26)
And it came to pass that his servants ran and told the queen all that had happened unto the king. And she came in unto the king; and when she saw him lie as if he were dead, and also Aaron and his brethren standing as though they had been the cause of his fall, she was angry with them, and commanded that her servants, or the servants of the king, should take them and slay them. — Alma 22:19
The queen does what any queen of a Lamanite court would do: she gives the order to kill the men who appear to have killed her husband. She has no theological framework for what has happened. The Book of Mormon does not blame her for this. She acts as her tradition gives her to act.
Now the servants had seen the cause of the king's fall, therefore they durst not lay their hands on Aaron and his brethren; and they pleaded with the queen saying: Why commandest thou that we should slay these men, when behold one of them is mightier than us all? Therefore we shall fall before them. — Alma 22:20
The servants refuse. They have seen the work of the Spirit; they will not raise their hand against it. The verse is one of the Book of Mormon's clearest texts on the doctrine that observed power changes obedience. The same servants who would normally execute the queen's order will not execute this one. The Spirit, having moved in the king, has also moved in them.
Now when the queen saw the fear of the servants she also began to fear exceedingly, lest there should some evil come upon her. And she commanded her servants that they should go and call the people, that they might slay Aaron and his brethren. — Alma 22:21
The queen escalates. If her household will not obey, she will call the people. The same gathering pattern that produced the contention scene in Alma 19 is gathering again. The chapter is carefully showing us that great revelations gather crowds, and crowds are dangerous.
Now when Aaron saw the determination of the queen, he, also knowing the hardness of the hearts of the people, feared lest that a multitude should assemble themselves together, and there should be a great contention and a disturbance among them; therefore he put forth his hand and raised the king from the earth, and said unto him: Stand. And he stood upon his feet, receiving his strength. — Alma 22:22
Aaron stretches out his hand and raises the king. Mark 5:41's talitha cumi — damsel, arise — is the same form. The Book of Mormon's clearest pre-Markan text on the lifting-by-the-hand resurrection-pattern is in Aaron's gesture. The king stood upon his feet, receiving his strength. The phrase is the phrase Acts 3:7 will use of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. The same Greek (estereōthēsan) is the same idea — bodily strength returning at the moment of the divine touch.
Now, this was done in the presence of the queen and many of the servants. And when they saw it they greatly marveled, and began to fear. And the king stood forth, and began to minister unto them. And he did minister unto them, insomuch that his whole household were converted unto the Lord. — Alma 22:23
The king ministers to his own household. The form is exactly the form Lamoni used in Alma 19:31. The convert rises and immediately preaches. The verse is one of the Book of Mormon's clearest texts on the doctrine that the freshly-converted soul is the most effective preacher to the people closest to him. The king's household believes because the king's mouth is preaching, and the king's preaching has been in his life since the prayer.
The proclamation throughout the land (verse 27)
And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west — and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided. — Alma 22:27
The verse begins with the king's proclamation and slides without warning into Mormon's geographical excursus. The transition is the chapter's most famous editorial move. We are told that the king sent his proclamation throughout all his land — and Mormon then takes us through what all his land actually was. The geographical sweep is huge: borders to the east sea, to the west sea, divided from the Nephite land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, with Manti to the north and the head of the river Sidon as the demarcation.
The phrase narrow strip of wilderness is one of the most-cited in Book of Mormon geographical scholarship. The whole Lamanite-Nephite divide ran along this line. Mormon is giving the reader the political map at the precise moment the great king's proclamation crosses it.
The geography insert (verses 27–34)
Now, the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore. — Alma 22:28
Mormon gives the reader the demographic geography. The Lamanites who lived in tents were spread along the western seashore. The reference to the place of their fathers' first inheritance is the Book of Mormon's clearest text on where the original Lehite landing took place — the western coast of the Lamanite lands. The Book of Mormon insists that the Lehite party landed on the west coast, and the descendants of the Lehite party — both Nephite and Lamanite — have spread inland from there over the four-hundred-plus years since.
And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites; nevertheless the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness, at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west, round about on the wilderness side; on the north, even until they came to the land which they called Bountiful. — Alma 22:29
The Nephites had pushed Lamanites to both seas — east and west. The Nephite lands held the north. The wilderness lay between, like a buffer. The land they called Bountiful sat farther north. The verse is one of the most carefully-detailed geographical sentences in the Book of Mormon.
And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it being the place of their first landing. — Alma 22:30
Bountiful borders Desolation. Desolation is the land which had been peopled and been destroyed — the Jaredite homeland. The verse is a quiet but loaded reference back to Omni 1:21 and Mosiah 8:8, where the discovery of the bones and the Jaredite ruins was first mentioned. The Lehite party occupies the southern and middle parts of a continent on which an earlier civilization had already lived and died. Mormon is reminding the reader that the Book of Mormon contains two civilizations — Nephite-Lamanite and Jaredite — and the boundary between them is the line between Bountiful and Desolation.
And they came from there up into the south wilderness. Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful, it being the wilderness which is filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind, a part of which had come from the land northward for food. — Alma 22:31
And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward. — Alma 22:32
The verse the geography scholars come back to. A day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea. The narrow neck of land is a day-and-a-half's walk across. The verse is the single most consequential piece of Book of Mormon geographical data anywhere in the text. It is also the verse Mormon-the-editor places at exactly this point in the chapter, immediately after the great king's proclamation. The geography matters because the conversion matters. A Lamanite king's proclamation throughout all his land is a proclamation that crosses the seas and the wilderness, and the next chapter will show seven cities receiving it.
And it came to pass that the Nephites had inhabited the land Bountiful, even from the east unto the west sea, and thus the Nephites in their wisdom, with their guards and their armies, had hemmed in the Lamanites on the south, that thereby they should have no more possession on the north, that they might not overrun the land northward. — Alma 22:33
Therefore the Lamanites could have no more possessions only in the land of Nephi, and the wilderness round about. Now this was wisdom in the Nephites — as the Lamanites were an enemy to them, they would not suffer their afflictions on every hand, and also that they might have a country whither they might flee, according to their desires. — Alma 22:34
The chapter closes with a brief military-political summary. The Nephites had hemmed in the Lamanites south of the narrow neck; they kept the land northward as a buffer and refuge. The chapter is one of the Book of Mormon's clearest pre-modern texts on the political-military instinct of buffer-zones and defensible borders. Mormon is also setting up Alma 43–62 — the great war chapters — by giving the reader, in the middle of the conversion narrative, the geographical understanding the war chapters will require.
The chapter's architecture
Five movements. The palace. The prayer. The household conversion. The proclamation. The geography.
The chapter's center of gravity is the king's prayer in verse 18 — I will give away all my sins to know thee. It is one of the canon's most concentrated articulations of what repentance actually is, and the Latter-day Saint tradition has cited it for generations as the pattern. The king does not ask the Lord to remove his sins. He says he will give them away. The verb is active. The condition is the knowledge of God. The exchange is total.
The chapter is also the structural turning point of the Sons-of-Mosiah arc. The conversion of the great king is the event that opens the seven cities of Alma 23. Without his proclamation, the missionary work would have remained the work of two or three individual cities under individual sub-kings. With his proclamation, the work becomes confederation-wide. The Book of Mormon's clearest text on the way a single conversion at the top of a political structure opens an entire society to the gospel is the proclamation of verse 27.
The chapter is also the canonical Book of Mormon geography insert. Mormon has held the geographical data until this point and then unloads it in eight verses. The narrow neck of land. The line between Nephi and Zarahemla. The eastern and western seas. The Jaredite Desolation in the north. The Nephite Bountiful below it. The Lamanite tent-dwellers along the seashores. The whole map, in a few sentences. The placement is not accidental — Mormon is showing us the scope of what the king's proclamation has just covered.
Finally, the chapter is the textual hinge into Alma 23. The proclamation of verse 27 will sweep through seven cities. The Lamanites who hear it will be converted and never did fall away. The Anti-Nephi-Lehies will emerge as a distinct people. The chapter that began with one man's prayer ends with a continent reorganized. Few chapters in scripture move so far in so few verses.