Whoever Desired to Worship Must Stretch Forth His Hands Towards Heaven

Alan C. Miner

It says in Alma 31:14 that "whosoever [of the Zoramites] desired to worship must go forth and stand upon the top [of the Rameumptom] thereof, and stretch forth his hands towards heaven, and cry with a loud voice . . ." According to Hugh Nibley, the act of stretching forth their hands to heaven is the hallel gesture, which you find anciently everywhere. It gave us the Hebrew letter h. It's the little hallelujah mannequin here [brother Nibley draws it on the board]. You see it on jars, vases, rocks, glyphs, etc. They would do that. It's the usual gesture, the hallel or hallelujah. Hallel means "to greet the new moon' and various things like that. They would recite this prayer. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 2, p. 432]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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