When Mormon introduces chapters 36 through 42, he states, “And we have an account of his [Alma’s] commandments, which he gave unto them [his sons] according to his own record” (35:16; emphasis added). Notice that Alma’s words to his sons in these chapters are described as commandments. We often refer to them as Alma’s blessings to his sons, and there are indeed words of blessings in them, but these are not what we would consider to be Patriarchal Blessings. They do not read like that.
Alma begins his speech to Helaman by saying, “Hear my words and learn of me” (Alma 36:3). The very first thing that Alma taught both Helaman and Shiblon was: “[I]nasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land” (Alma 36:1). Alma also added the inverse at the end for Helaman: “and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence” (Alma 36:30). For Shiblon, Alma began with both promises of the covenant at the beginning—clearly his main teaching point to Shiblon: “[I]nasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence” (Alma 38:1). With Corianton, Alma began his speech by sorrowing that his son had not kept the commandments of God.
Judging from Alma’s words of commandment, we learn a little about the personalities, attitude, and characters of these three sons. Coupled with that, let us consider what kind of a relationship Alma may have had with each one of them. Did Alma know his sons well? I believe he did. We might ask what lesson may be in this for parents? Before we try to counsel our children, we may need to get to know them a little better than we sometimes do.
Alma’s sons probably lived in his home. He did not just send them off to public school or away to boarding school, which didn’t exist in those days. Who would have taught them in a home setting? In the Hebrew and Israelite tradition, it was the responsibility of the father to teach his sons (Deuteronomy 6:7–9). We know that King Benjamin taught his sons. He instructed them not just how to be good leaders but also many other things, including languages such as Egyptian and Hebrew. Benjamin had been their tutor and mentor, and therefore he surely had a lot of contact with them. In the modern world, parents have not always had that same level of interaction with their children. We send them off to school. We send them off to Primary, Young Men and Young Women, and that is good. But do we know them as well as we ought to?
When Alma gave these commandments to his sons, did he think that these would become part of world religious literature and that people all over the world would be reading his private communication to his family members? I don’t think so. It was likely Mormon who decided that this needed to go into the Nephite national history. These were found in Alma’s records—we are privileged here to look into personal his family history.
When Alma wrote out these lessons, he apparently took great thought and care for their wording and content. He certainly worked with the Spirit, and he also worked with his literary skills. He was giving his very best in every way, even though his remarks were likely only for his three sons. That is really the audience here, isn’t it? One son for each of his three messages. What does that tell you about the time, preparation, and attention that we ought to give when we sit down to write a letter to our children? Would we be better parents if we wrote the kind of wisdom literature—world-class writing—that Alma gave to Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton?