Alma 38
Alma 38: Header
The commandments of Alma to his son Shiblon.
Even though this chapter comes from the same source as the previous original chapter, it is given its own header. Mormon has included three instances of counsel to his three sons (to Helaman1, chapters 36-37; to Shiblon in this chapter; to Corianton, chapters 39-42) because they suit Mormon’s purposes, which differed from the original reason Alma2 provided the counsel. It is possible that one of the reasons for the separate headers has to do with the names of the sons. Mormon has used names as a means of reinforcing his message, and it is possible that we are seeing him do that with the three sons.
Helaman1 is a good Nephite name, and Helaman1 is a good son. There is nothing negative about Helaman1 in the counsel given to him.
Shiblon, the subject of this chapter’s instance of counsel, which is by far the shortest, is an interesting case. He is also a good son, but he will be warned against the very actions that will be the subject of Corianton’s counsel.
Unlike the name Helaman1, Corianton is very much a Jaredite name, and Mormon uses Jaredite names to suggest those who have strayed from the proper path. That defines Corianton. The name Shiblon represents ambivalence. A shiblon is a measure of value (which Mormon made sure to include, see Alma 11:15). However, it is also a Jaredite name. Shiblon, therefore, symbolically represents the middle between Helaman1 and Corianton. He is good but must be cautioned against temptation.
Mormon intends his readers to be able to see themselves among these three types (or models). What will be most important in these types is that should we see ourselves in Corianton’s shoes, we will be able to take heart when we remember that Corianton repented and was later a faithful missionary, as we shall see.
Alma2 Counsels Shiblon
Alma 38:1–2
1 My son, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that inasmuch 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.
2 And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end.
Shiblon’s counsel is so much shorter than that given to his two brothers that it is difficult to explain. One explanation is that, at least in Shiblon’s case, he may have been present when Alma2 spoke to Helaman1. That would allow us to see this opening line of “I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman1,” as a simple application of part of what he told Helaman1. Thus, the blessing or counsel begins in the same way for both: “inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.”
Giving both the positive and negative aspects of the promise of the land is particularly important for Shiblon, considering that he will represent both being righteous and being cautious on that path, rather than being led away.
The beginning of this counsel is all positive: “I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God.” Even with that positive beginning, there is still the caution: “I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments.” Shiblon may be used for the modern reader as the example of those who are righteous, but we must continue to work at our righteousness. We are tempted, but we must avoid those temptations.
Alma 38:3–5
3 I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites.
4 For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.
5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
Alma2 had taken Shiblon with him to Antionum, but Mormon did not give us any details about Shiblon’s experiences there. Clearly, Shiblon was separated from his father, perhaps preaching in a different location, and Shiblon’s experience differed from the one Mormon selected for Alma2 and Amulek’s teachings on faith and the conversion of those who later went to Jershon. Shiblon’s experience had stones thrown at him.
We should not read this as the same as stoning in the New Testament, as that was a form of execution, and Shiblon was clearly still alive. Therefore, we are seeing the word used in translation and therefore, with the meaning of having stones thrown as a sign of rejection rather than as a method of capital punishment.
Alma2 will use this experience as an object lesson. When Alma2 taught Helaman1, Alma2 invoked the bondage of the fathers as background to his own spiritual bondage. Here, Alma2 uses Shiblon’s personal physical bondage as the backdrop to the same story of Alma2‘s deliverance from spiritual bondage.
Alma 38:6–9
6 Now, my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me; for if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things.
7 But behold, the Lord in his great mercy sent his angel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of destruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.
8 And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.
9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.
Nearly the whole of our chapter 36 of Alma2 is devoted to Alma2‘s description of his conversion story to Helaman1. John W. Welch has formatted that chapter as a long chiasmus, or a poetic form that begins and moves to a central text and then takes each point and essentially repeats it in reverse until the last line parallels the first. That is a complex and beautiful passage. Shiblon gets the same story in only four verses.
We should not suppose that Alma2 cares less for Shiblon. Alma2‘s conversion story was certainly known to his sons, and it appears in their blessings and father’s counsel as part of the moral lessons. Perhaps it was unnecessary to give the longer version to Shiblon, if Shiblon were actually present for the first recitation. If he was not, perhaps Alma2 simply wrote the incident more simply as he recorded it and Shiblon did receive the very same recitation. Clearly, Alma2 intended that the opening admonition to both Helaman1 and Shiblon be about the same topics. Perhaps they were, in their oral form, closer than what Alma2 eventually wrote down.
Alma 38:10–15
10 And now, as ye have begun to teach the word even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things.
11 See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength.
12 Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.
13 Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom.
14 Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.
15 And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be sober. My son, farewell.
Alma2‘s blessing and counsel to Helaman1 spoke to Helaman1 as a person, but also as a record keeper with a responsibility to the people. Shiblon does not share those responsibilities, but he is still given a personal blessing. It is interesting that although Alma2 has already praised him and indicated that he knows that he will have joy in Shiblon (see verse 2), these admonitions are for what he should not do, rather than a list of things that he should do, as was given to Helaman1.
Perhaps Alma2 saw this as a complementary blessing to Helaman1. Where that blessing gives a “do this” list, Shiblon’s blessing gives a “don’t do this” list. Both are applicable to all modern readers. There are things we should do, and things we should not.
As noted in the discussion of the header for this chapter, it is also possible that Mormon is using these blessings as types for his readers, and that he had edited this blessing to have Shiblon as the representative of so many of us who are basically faithful, but who might be tempted by the things of the world.
This is the end of a chapter in the 1830 edition.
