One modern commentator on the Book of Mormon reads verse 36 as simply Alma placing his hands on his brethren. That they were filled with the Spirit seems to fit that modern context and fits our understanding of “laying on of hands.” However, it doesn’t really explain why the word clapped was used rather than placed.
There is no answer to that. A possibility is the fact that the process of clapping generates a movement of air. Also, both the Hebrew and Greek words, that are translated to spirit, had the meaning of “wind.” As a representation of something that was real, and yet not seen, wind and spirit were appropriate terms. If that meaning is behind the action of clapping, then there is a symbolic act that the clapping generated the “spirit”, that was then infused into his companions. That is not to suggest that clapping was necessary, but only that it was an appropriate symbol.
When they have the spirit, they become missionaries, “taking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on.” That phrase intentionally echoes Luke 12:22 where the Lord says to the disciples: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.” That phrase is also seen in Matthew 6:25 and 6:31, and it represents the context for the disciples that is more appropriate for this occasion at the beginning of their missionary effort.
There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition.