Rhetoric: Amulek returns to the expected after his unexpected confession that he had rebelled against Yahweh. How did the transformation occur? He accepts full responsibility for his unbelief: “I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know.”
The difference between this Amulek and the one his listeners thought they knew is that now he will hear. Not only was evidence for Yahweh all around him, but he “was called many times.” Indirectly, he is also telling his audience that they are in his position—meaning that they also are responsible for their disbelief.
Chronology: The tenth year of the reign of the judges was around 83 B.C., but what was the seventh month? We should not expect it to correspond to our seventh month. Indeed, Randall Spackman suggests that the twenty-sixth year of the judges began with the new moon of February 25. With a Nephite new year falling near the end of February, their seventh month would be in our September, assuming that their months corresponded roughly to lunar cycles, as do our own.
Book of Mormon military actions tend to take place in the winter dry months rather in the spring, which is both the wet time and the time for planting. (See commentary accompanying Alma 3:1.) This timing becomes interesting considering the military invasion that will destroy Ammonihah (Alma 16:1–3).
Alma’s missionary journey appears to follow the same pattern. Even though Alma is traveling alone and there is no reason to believe that he must tend crops, it is quite likely that he traveled in the dry season because it was easier.