According to David Lamb, Hebrew people attached special significance to individual numbers. Knowing the significance of the numbers serves as an emphasis for points which might otherwise go unnoticed. Alma's people fled from the armies of king Noah into the wilderness. They traveled eight days and established themselves in the land of Helam, which was "a very beautiful and pleasant land." The number eight is associated with "new beginnings" (Bullinger 1894:200). The "new beginnings" for the people of Alma was marked by a journey of eight days. [David Lamb, "What's in a Number?," in Recent Book of Mormon Developments, Vol. 2, p. 41]