Alma did not directly tell the poor Zoramites that they had to forgive the rich Zoramites who had expelled them, but in reality, they were going to have to have a spirit of forgiveness in their hearts if they wanted to be forgiven of their own failings. Alma alluded to this when he preached, “How much more cursed is he that knoweth the will of God and doeth it not?” (32:19). The hitch is that we are going to be punished or cursed if we know the will of God and do not do it.
Alma next said, “Now of this thing ye must judge.” The word must is interesting. Judging between the two choices is not optional. We cannot avoid this either/or judgment. “Behold,” he says, “I say unto you that it is on the one hand even as it is on the other,” meaning that we will unavoidably reap the attendant consequences of our actions (or inactions), whether we opt for the one hand or the other hand. Choosing not to act is itself a choice.
The balanced sense of reciprocity of justice was a common biblical idea, and examples of this include the rule that if we want mercy, we have to give mercy; if we want forgiveness, we have to be forgiving; if we want to be given blessings, we have to bless and give to the poor; and if we are the poor, we must give to each other.