Hebrew Numerology in Alma’s Speech

John W. Welch

While I realize that sometimes words can appear in a text a random or insignificant number of times, I believe that more is going on here in Alma 12–13 than just something inadvertent or unintended. It would appear that Alma had probably given something like this speech more than once. After all, he had been dealing with the repercussions of the execution of Nehor for ten years. All this in Ammonihah occurred during the tenth year of the reign of judges (Alma 8:3; 15:19). The appearance of key words either seven, ten, or twelve times may well reflect, to some degree, careful composing of this text.

Hebrew numerology assigns symbolic meanings to certain numbers. The number twelve is believed to represent official judgment. For example, there were twelve apostles, twelve tribes, and twelve months of the year. It is an ordering number. Perhaps not coincidentally, there are five words that appear twelve times in this text. This feature would have been designed to enhance the holiness of the holy order of God, one of Alma’s main topics. Alma was only a man, but he was indicating, in a solemn, esoteric way, that his words were authorized by a governing force. The words he chose to repeat twelve times are noteworthy in this regard:

· Prepare: Alma applied this word to the plan of redemption that was prepared from the foundation of the world. Everything was prepared and done in order. His point was that God’s plan is an orderly plan for the world; it is not just a random set of things that happen. (See the appearances of prepare / prepared / preparatory / preparing.)

· Priesthood (or related words such as priests or high priest): The subtext here is that true priesthood is the proper way in which the world should be governed.

· Word: Word is likely there twelve times because the word of God orders and shapes our lives. Nehor had used the term “word of God” to describe his doctrine (Alma 1:3), and he had been required to confess that what he had taught was “contrary to the word of God” (Alma 1:15). Alma does not miss this opportunity to stress the true meaning and content of the divine “word.”

· Hard: The root word hard (as in harden, hardened, hardeneth, or hardness) appears twelve times in reference especially to the hard hearts of the people. Alma was not coming right out and saying “you are hard-hearted,” but he was saying that if the people were hard-hearted, God’s resolute judgment would befall them. When he condemned the people the first time back in Alma 9, they threw him out of town. In this attempt, he was being a bit more politically correct or cautious. He never comes right out here and says, “this is what will happen.” But instead he gave the ordered conditions that inevitably point to the problems of hard-heartedness.

· You: The other word that is used twelve times is you/thou. You, you, you are individually called upon, you are accountable, you are being judged.

In addition, four words appear here ten times: men, high, Son, and hearts. Thus, men can be called to the high priesthood through the redemption of the Son if their hearts are pure. Alma points here to the underlying mystery, namely, that humans, as the children of God, can become perfect like their Father. And on the receiving end, Alma equally uses the injunction to “harden not” ten times. Ten is typically the number of perfection, and the high priesthood after the order of the Son of God is the medium of perfection.

Thirteen words make an appearance seven times each. They are: also, brethren, called, calling, faith, many, ordained, plan, prepared, priesthood, repent, repentance, and spoken. Seven was perhaps the most significant number in the Bible, representing spiritual perfection, completion, the seven days of creation, the seven-fold ceremonies throughout the book of Leviticus, the requirement to forgive seventy times seven (or forty-nine times ten), the seventh heaven mentioned by Paul, or the seven churches, candlesticks, lamps, seals, horns, eyes, trumpets, thunders, crowns, plagues, vials, and angels in the final completion of the history of the world in John’s Apocalypse. Accordingly, the fulfillment of the principles that Alma mentions seven times leads all people to spiritual completion.

Further Reading

Corbin Volluz, “A Study in Seven: Hebrew Numerology in the Book of Mormon,” BYU Studies Quarterly 53, no. 2 (2014): 57–83.

Diane E. Wirth, “Revisiting the Seven Lineages of the Book of Mormon and the Seven Tribes of Mesoamerica,” BYU Studies Quarterly 52, no. 4 (2013): 77–88.

John W. Welch, “The Number 24,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research, ed. John W. Welch (Provo and Salt Lake City, UT: FARMS and Deseret Book, 1992), 272–274.

John W. Welch, “Counting to Ten,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12, no. 2 (2003): 42–57, 113–114.

John W. Welch Notes

References