Alma and his companions begin to have some success, but not among those who were the adamant adherents to the Zoramite religion. They did not touch the hearts of those who used the synagogues as places to display their wealth, but rather they touched those among the poor, those who “were not permitted to enter into their synagogues.” Not only were the poor deemed lesser than those with displayable wealth, but they were “esteemed as filthiness.” The sad end result of social elitism can be the labeling of those who do not fit as “something or other”; they are labeled as “something less.” In this case, they were “esteemed as filthiness.” In many similar situations, they are considered less than human.
The problem is not really wealth, but the separation into different types of people, where some consider themselves so much better than others that the others can be routinely ignored, or even worse, oppressed. However, it is also among such people that their hearts might be more susceptible to God’s words. When verse 3 says that the poor were “poor in heart,” it refers to their lack of pride and, therefore, the lack of that great obstacle to repentance.